The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today announces that global leaders from the Travel & Tourism industry will meet at the first WTTC European Leaders Forum in Lisbon, Portugal on 11 September 2018.

Hosted by Ana Mendes Godinho, Secretary of State for Tourism in Portugal, and Turismo de Portugal, this invitation-only event will bring together the CEOs and regional leaders of the top Travel & Tourism companies from across Europe, along with Tourism Ministers and regional experts.

The WTTC European Leaders Forum will engage a select group of leaders who will discuss four of the key issues facing the region’s Travel & Tourism sector: tourism’s role in sustainable urban development, tourism and the future of work, unlocking investment in Europe’s tourism, and supporting innovation in tourism.

H.E Manuel Caldeira Cabral, Minister of Economy, Portugal, H.E Ana Mendes Godinho, Secretary of State for Tourism, Portugal, Peter Fankhauser, CEO, Thomas Cook Group, and Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises will be joined on stage by; Kike Sarasola, President & Founder, Room Mate Hotels & BeMate.com; Robert Swade, CEO, Grace Hotels; Andrea Grisdale, CEO, IC Bellagio; and Mário Ferreira, CEO Mystic Invest, Alain Dupeyras, Head of the Regional Development and Tourism Division, OECD, Aradhana Khowala, CEO & Founder, Aptamind Partners, Miguel Leitmann, Founder & CEO, Vision-Box, Kimmo Maki, President & CEO, Finavia, Ian Taylor, Executive Editor, Travel Weekly, Enrique Ybarra, Founder, President & CEO, City Sightseeing Worldwide, Luís Araújo, President, Turismo de Portugal; Robin Rossmann, Managing Director, STR; Öznur Özdemir Özaltin, Chief Executive, Özaltin Holding (Tourism Group), Ozaltin Holding, Tim Moonen, Manging Director, The Business of Cities.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said “We are delighted to be holding our first WTTC Europe Leaders Forum in Lisbon, Portugal. Europe is the largest and most mature tourism market in the world, with tourism generating Euro 1.8 trillion to European economies and supporting 36.6 million jobs. Throughout Europe, Travel & Tourism creates jobs, drives economic growth and helps build better societies. This is particularly the case in Portugal, where Travel & Tourism accounted for 17.3% of GDP in 2017 (USD38.0bn) and generates 1 in 5 of the country’s jobs.

“The outputs from the European Leaders Forum will inform WTTC’s future work in the region and provide a unique and exclusive space for networking amongst the leaders in attendance,” commented Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO. “We look forward to a productive and engaging forum and thank Ana Mendes Godinho and Turismo de Portugal for their continued support.”

Travel to and within the US grew four percent year-over-year in June, according to the US Travel Association’s latest Travel Trends Index (TTI)—marking the industry’s 102nd straight month of overall expansion.

Despite this positive trend, US Travel economists remain wary that growth of international inbound travel to the US is not keeping pace with the global long-haul travel boom.

Most notable in the TTI is the strength of domestic business and leisure travel, buoyed by near-historic highs in consumer confidence and growth in forward-looking bookings and searches. According to the Leading Travel Index, domestic travel is expected to increase by approximately 2.6 percent in the next six months. While this is good, there are reasons to believe that the elevated level of consumer confidence may be short-lived.

“For the first time in the history of the Travel Trends Index, both the business and leisure segments of domestic travel expanded every month during the first half of the year,” said US Travel Senior Vice President for Research David Huether. “However, rising oil prices and trade uncertainty—particularly with regard to tariffs—have the potential to dampen consumer confidence.”

Through the end of the year, international inbound travel to the US is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 2.2 percent. However, US Travel economists note that the US is well off the pace of long-haul travel worldwide, projected to increase six percent in 2018.

Also, US Travel researchers say, storm clouds continue to gather in the form of trade tensions and rising oil prices.

“Facing these potential headwinds, we urge officials to support policies and messaging that will make clear to the world that the US is open and eager for business,” said Huether.

Despite solid economic activity bolstering both domestic and international travel through the first half of the year, the rate of growth is not brisk enough to help the US regain its slipping share of the global travel market.

The TTI is prepared for US Travel by the research firm Oxford Economics. The TTI is based on public and private sector source data which are subject to revision by the source agency. The TTI draws from: advance search and bookings data from ADARA and nSight; airline bookings data from the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC); IATA, OAG and other tabulations of international inbound travel to the US; and hotel room demand data from STR.

Click here to read the full report.

Gobekli Tepe, considered “The Oldest Temple in the World,” has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, making this the 18th UNESCO recognized site in Turkey. The inscription took place during the 42nd World Heritage Committee meeting in Manama Krakow, Bahrain, recently.

According to UNESCO, Gobekli Tepe, in the Germus mountains of south-eastern Anatolia, presents “monumental circular and rectangular megalithic structures, interpreted as enclosures, which were erected by hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic age between 9,600 and 8,200 BC.”

“It is likely that these monuments were used in connection with rituals, probably of a funerary nature. Distinctive T-shaped pillars are carved with images of wild animals, providing insight into the way of life and beliefs of people living in Upper Mesopotamia about 11,500 years ago,” the UNESCO listing said.

Discovered during excavations by researchers from Istanbul and Chicago universities, Göbekli Tepe is located near the neighborhood of Örencik in Şanliurfa, 11 miles from the city center. Excavations have continued for 54 years, and many international institutions recognize the site to be “the oldest temple in the world.”

There is a great mystery behind Gobekli Tepe, but what makes it most intriguing is not its large size, its inaccessibility or the beauty of its monuments,” said officials at The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. “It is the 12,000-year history that dates it to 10,000 years before the founding of the Roman Empire, 8,000 years before the appearance of the Hittites, and 7,000 years before the Great Pyramids.”

Other Turkish sites added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage List include:

• 2017 – Aphrodisias
• 2016 – Archaeological Site of Ani
• 2015 – Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape
• 2015 – Ephesus
• 2014 – Bursa and Cumalikizik: the Birth of the Ottoman Empire
• 2014 – Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape
• 2012 – Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük
• 2011 – Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex
• 1998 – Archaeological Site of Troy
• 1998 – Hierapolis-Pamukkale
• 1994 – City of Safranbolu
• 1988 – Xanthos-Letoon
• 1987 – Nemrut Mountain
• 1986 – Hattusha: The Hittite Capital
• 1985 – Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi
• 1985 – Historic Areas of Istanbul
• 1985 – Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia