The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is pleased to announce Filip Filipov, Head of B2B at Skyscanner, as the keynote speaker for WYSTC 2014 - the essential youth, student and educational travel industry event.

The headlining presentation, which will take place in Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday, 24 September, will focus on how emerging technologies and artificial intelligence attuned to our individual travel preferences are expected to impact on travel planning by 2024.

Filipov explains: “Ten years ago, who would have predicted that it would be the norm today to communicate directly with friends on holiday by Skype or mobile phone rather than sending a postcard, or make travel choices from a website on a computer screen rather than from a travel agent's brochure? Essentially, think of a world of travel where the traveller comes first – and the technology comes together to make that experience intuitive, rich and inspirational.”

The thought-provoking session will include information from Skyscanner's 'The Future of Travel 2024 report', which follows TOM, the Traveller of the Millennium, who uses multiple technology platforms and devices - most of which already exist or are in development - to research, plan and book his travel.

David Chapman, Director General of the World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, which organises the annual WYSTC event, said: “The growth of social media and mobile communications over the last five years has really started to revolutionise the way young people gather information before their travels, with 63%1 of trips now booked online, whether on mobiles or home computers.

“Since emerging onto the travel scene Skyscanner has tapped into the growing trend for these early adopters of new technology to book their holidays while on the move. We are therefore delighted that Filip Filipov will be sharing the technological insights and expertise gleaned by his team with our global visitors at this year's WYSTC event in Dublin.”

The World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC) will take place at the Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland from 23 - 26 September 2014. For more information, including the full educational programme, and to register for this year's event, visit www.wystc.orgor stay in touch via twitter at @wystc using #WYSTC2014.

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Notes to the editor

For media enquiries please contact:

Esther Bell                                                           Juliet Stevens

T. +44 7718 529 980                                          Marketing Manager
E. estherbell@publicist.com                        T. +31 20 421 2800

                                                                                E. communications@wysetc.org

1        WYSE Travel Confederation's New Horizons III Report 2013

About WYSE Travel Confederation

• The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry.
• Founded in 2006 and created from the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) - both formed in the 1940s to inspire young people through international travel and to help remove cultural barriers - the confederation brings together 60 years of youth travel expertise.
• WYSE Travel Confederation is endorsed by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and UNESCO.
• Providing international travel experiences to over 30 million youth and students each year, WYSE Travel Confederation's global community of over 800 members spans more than 120 countries from a diverse range of sectors.
• From adventure tour operators to au pair agencies, cultural exchange programmes to language schools, hop-on-hop-off buses to student insurance and youth hostels to volunteer programmes, WYSE Travel Confederation is the world's most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.
• The Confederation is committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of its activities as it seeks to accelerate the development of youth travel.
• For more information, visit www.wysetc.org or follow the organisation on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC)

• WYSTC 2014 is the essential business-to-business global youth travel industry event.
• Now in its 23rd year, WYSTC is the annual event of WYSE Travel Confederation.
• From 23 – 26 September 2014, more than 800 travel professionals from over 450 businesses globally will gather at the Convention Centre Dublin Dublin, Ireland for four days of trading, seminars and workshops, networking, industry think tanks and more.
• For more information, visit www.wystc.org
• Stay in touch via twitter on @wystc using #wystc2014.

About Skyscanner

• Skyscanner is a leading global travel search site offering a truly comprehensive, free flight search service as well as instant online comparisons for hotels and car hire.
• Founded in 2003, Skyscanner receives over 25 million unique visitors each month.
• Skyscanner is optimised worldwide and is available in 30 languages. 
• Skyscanner's highly-rated free mobile apps are available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Windows 8 devices and have been downloaded over 30 million times.
• The privately-owned company employs over 400 staff and has its global headquarters in Edinburgh with offices in Glasgow, Singapore, Beijing, Barcelona and Miami.
• You can view the The Future of Travel 2024 report at www.skyscanner2024.com.
• For more information, visit www.skyscanner.net.