Departures Mag Signs For Cannes Conference

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. October 14, 2008

Departures magazine, the luxury lifestyle mag published by Amex is reinforcing its commitment to the International Luxury Travel Market. It is signing on as the lead sponsor to this premiere luxury travel conference. The fourth-annual ILTM conference is taking place from December 4-7 in Cannes, France.

Ed Ventimiglia, vice president and publisher of Departures, commented: "Departures' sponsorship of this annual gathering and the attendance of American Express, the world's largest travel agency, reinforces ILTM's position as the premier global travel event of its kind.

Exclusively devoted to senior luxury travel buyers and decision makers, this is an extraordinary and powerful opportunity to promote the growth of the luxury travel sector, which ultimately reaches and impacts our affluent, well-traveled card members."

"Departures and American Express are a valuable asset to the International Luxury Travel Market and to all its attendees," comments Sarah Ball, marketing manager, ILTM. "Departures' understanding of the luxury industry at the highest level enforces ILTM's ability to be one step ahead and lead a cutting edge networking environment for the luxury trade to trade travel sector. ILTM promises a world-class conference that will inform and educate the assembled leaders in the luxury travel sector."

This renewed commitment comes on the heels of the most recent Departures Luxury Advisory Board survey on travel, which confirmed readers' passion for international travel. The Board, which comprises 2,351 readers who volunteer their behavioral and spending habits on a quarterly basis, revealed that they are frequent world travelers, taking an average of 3.4 international trips per year and spending $25,000 per year on travel. In addition, 91 percent on those polled said they planned to take an international trip in the next 12 months. Europe topped the list of destinations, with Asia showing significant growth. Departures is currently fielding another Luxury Advisory Board survey on travel and will be sharing the results at the 2006 ILTM.

"Luxury travel continues to evolve and it is critical to anticipate customers' future needs if we are to stay market leaders in the luxury sector," said Lynne Biggar, senior vice president and general manager of the American Express Consumer Travel Network, with a focus on luxury travel benefits and programs catering to premium for Platinum Card(R) and Centurion Card(R) members. "By bringing top marketers in the luxury sector together in a forum such as ILTM, we can benefit from sharing information and learnings."

Departures has been a sponsor of ILTM's annual conference since the organization held its first meeting in 2002. Each year, ILTM invites leading buyers of luxury travel from more than 60 countries worldwide to this conference where they can share and exchange information with other members in this targeted sector. The conference guest list is compiled by ILTM's research and via the assistance of their various partners, including Departures.