The World Travel & Tourism Council has unveiled the programme for its 26th Global Summit in Valletta, Malta, setting up a two-day gathering of more than 100 speakers from government, tourism bodies and the private travel sector.
The summit will be held under the theme FUTU[RE]SET and will bring together ministers, former heads of government, commissioners, tourism authorities and senior executives from airlines, airports, hotels, cruise, technology, investment and destination businesses.
WTTC said the Malta agenda will focus on the forces reshaping global travel and tourism, including artificial intelligence, digital identity, connectivity, investment, sustainability, crisis readiness, destination management and the changing traveller.
The programme is built around eight priorities: safe and seamless travel, stronger destination stewardship, sustainability, emerging technologies and AI, crisis preparedness, expanded connectivity, future workforce development and investment-led growth.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and chief executive, said travel and tourism was being reshaped by AI, technology, changing traveller expectations, geopolitics and new investment patterns. She said the summit would give governments and business leaders a forum to turn those changes into practical progress.
Malta Tourism Authority chief executive Carlo Micallef said the programme reflected the breadth of issues now facing the sector, with airlines, airports, hotels, cruise operators, technology companies, governments and tourism authorities all involved in the discussions.
The summit will open with Maltese leaders setting out the country’s tourism ambitions, including Prime Minister Robert Abela, Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, Tourism Minister Jo Etienne Abela and Micallef, alongside WTTC chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio and Guevara.
A Global Leaders Dialogue will bring ministers, policymakers and business leaders into closed-format discussions on tourism competitiveness. Other sessions will cover digital borders, AI, small and medium-sized tourism businesses, resilience, destination stewardship, mobility, accessibility and investment.
WTTC will also launch a Youth Movement during the summit, bringing about 90 students and 10 professors from 16 institutions into the event. The initiative is aimed at raising interest in travel and tourism careers and giving young people a stronger voice in the sector’s future.
The council will also use the Malta summit to advance its Together in Travel programme for small and medium-sized enterprises, which WTTC says represent about 85% of the global travel and tourism community.
Confirmed speakers include former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar, European Commission representatives, ministers from countries including Malta, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Greece, Croatia, Türkiye, India, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and senior executives from Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, MSC Group, Trip.com Group, Four Seasons, American Express Travel, Iberostar, Marriott International, Accor, Dubai Airports, Capital A and VFS Global.
The summit will close with a session led by Guevara, Lefebvre d’Ovidio and Micallef before WTTC announces the host destination for its 2027 Global Summit.