We will never take events for granted again

September 17, 2021

This week we delivered a Conference at sea for the Institute of Travel & Tourism onboard MSC Cruises’ ship MSC Virtuosa – our first in-person event since March 2020 due to the pandemic! It was wonderful to be able to deliver an in-person Conference again and to see delegates reconnecting with each other after so much time spent apart.

Themed We Will Never Take Travel for Granted Again, we heard inspiring presentations from a range of speakers who addressed everything from sustainable tourism to technical innovation in travel as well as recruitment and retention strategies in the workplace, traveller trends, politics and much more.

Highlights included a panel discussion from industry experts about how travel leaders can effectively communicate with the government during a crisis. We heard from Wendy Wu, Founder and Chair of Wendy Wu Tours, who gave a refreshingly positive and energetic take on navigating the pandemic and supporting staff. There was a moving talk from Professor Jo Delahunty QC about overcoming negatives against all odds and finding positives even in the darkest of moments, which brought many close to tears. Dame Irene Hays spoke about how her employees are at the heart of everything Hays Travel does, and panellists discussed how diversity and inclusion in travel businesses must be driven from the top, and much more besides.

Taking place onboard the iconic MSC Virtuosa, attendees enjoyed dinners together, drinks receptions and entertainment including a wonderful circus show with acrobats swinging from the ceilings above them. It was fantastic to see everyone come together to support each other in a unique setting as we travelled to the isle of Portland and along the UK coastline.

Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive with comments such as “Take a bow for an absolutely phenomenal few days […] thought provoking and humbling, this is one Conference that I’ll never forget”, to “I had an unforgettable experience”, “I loved working with team Dellar Davies as always” and “Big shout out to the Dellar Davies team for putting on a cracking show.”

18 months without being able to do what our business has spent almost 30 years delivering has been incredibly tough. However, we are back and in keeping with ITT’s conference theme, ‘we will never take live events for granted again’!