- The Global Travel Futures Forum takes place in Paris from 28 to 29 October 2026
- Luc Julia, co-creator of Siri, delivers the opening keynote titled AI Without the Hype
- The Forum brings together approximately 250 senior leaders from travel, technology, finance, government, destinations and academia
- The signature session compares AI pathways in the United States, Europe and England, China, the Middle East and India
- The programme continues at World Travel Market London from 3 to 5 November
The Global Travel Futures Forum is set to take place in Paris from 28 to 29 October 2026, convened by the Global Resilience Network, Atout France, the European Travel Commission, the European Tourism Association and Sorbonne University. The event brings together approximately 250 senior leaders from travel, technology, finance, government, destinations and academia for a two-day programme at La Sorbonne and Hôtel de l’Industrie. Dr Luc Julia, co-creator of Siri, delivers the opening keynote titled AI Without the Hype: What Artificial Intelligence Can and Cannot Do.
The Forum’s signature session, You’ve Only Seen One Future: Five AI Pathways Meet in Paris, compares the forces shaping AI in the United States, Europe and England, China, the Middle East and India. Later sessions test those pathways against the traveller journey, including identity, payments, mobility, interoperability, data governance, ethics and human agency. Confirmed speakers include Eduardo Santander, CEO of the European Travel Commission, Maximilian Strotmann, Director General from the Tourism Unit of the European Commission, Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Tourism Association, Adam Oubieh, CEO of ATOUT France, Leon Li, Vice President of Public Affairs, and Ada Xu, Director International from Alibaba and Fliggy, Rylan Henriques, Managing Director and Partner at BCG, Javier Cabrerizo, Chief Strategy, Transformation and AI Officer and Carlotta Galvin, Head of ESG both at HBX Group, and Philippe Person, Director of Investment at Caisse des Dépôts, as well as senior representatives from Alibaba Cloud and Sabre, GEO Tourist, MMGY, G2A, Rednote and Worldia.
The organising theme is resilience, defined as the capacity to operate across competing AI ecosystems. The gap is widening rather than closing. European Commission data cited when GRN revealed its China mission put EU enterprise AI use at 13.5pc in 2024, while Eurostat’s 2025 survey put it at 20.0pc, ranging from 42.0pc in Denmark to 5.2pc in Romania. The Forum’s precursor event opens on 28 October at Sorbonne University with an academic and intergenerational programme exploring AI, traveller behaviour, the future workforce and tourism in 2030. The main executive Forum follows on 29 October at the Hôtel de l’Industrie. Paris is a major stage in GRN’s international executive AI programme, which began with the ETC and Atout France examining the value of Chinese AI systems, followed by a full day at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou in May 2026. The programme continues at World Travel Market London from 3 to 5 November and returns to China in May 2027.
Laurie Myers shared “AI is not arriving as one global system with one set of rules. Travel cannot prepare for only one future. Resilience will depend on operating across competing ecosystems while protecting trust and human agency. Paris puts those futures side by side and asks what leaders must do now.”
