Summit Agenda

Registration & Coffee

Welcome registration and networking coffee for all delegates.

Opening Remarks

Setting the tone for the summit by linking Rimini’s unique positioning and the momentum from Routes Europe with the broader need for pan-European collaboration on tourism seasonality.

Opening Keynote:High Season is Not the Problem: Why We Need to Rethink Tourism Demand

Tourism works when it creates value, not pressure. The real challenge is how we design tourism systems that can balance flows, create value and ensure that destinations remain liveable, attractive and sustainable for both communities and visitors, all year round

Panel 1:Year-Round Cruising: Building Sustainable, Extended Seasons

Cruise deployment patterns are evolving, and more regions are exploring the potential of extending operations beyond traditional peak months. While year-round cruising offers economic opportunity, it requires alignment between cruise lines, ports and destinations to ensure operational readiness, compelling guest experiences and sustainable visitor flows. This panel presented in collaboration with Seatrade Cruise brings together representative from CLIA, leading cruise lines and destination perspectives to examine what it takes to support extended seasons, from infrastructure and airlift to product development and collaborative marketing. With destinations around the world seeking to address seasonality challenges, how can stakeholders work together to create viable, balanced and long-term year-round cruise strategies?

Networking Coffee Break

A chance to network with your peers, friends and colleagues from the industry.

Panel 2: Rebalancing Demand: How Destinations and Industry Are Redesigning the Seasonal Year

A fast, insight‑driven conversation exploring how destinations and industry players are reshaping the traditional seasonal calendar. The panel examines the forces shifting demand; climate, airlift, consumer behaviour, and destination identity, and highlights the practical actions destinations can take to influence their seasonal curve rather than react to it.

Innovation Keynote: Harnessing AI and Big Data for Smarter Seasonality Planning

Demonstrates how artificial intelligence and Big Data can power demand forecasting, product development, and marketing to better balance tourism flows across the calendar.

Networking Lunch

Panel 3: Seasonality in the Skies: How Airlines Plan, Adapt, and Find Opportunity

Airlines face sharp seasonal swings that shape everything from route viability to fleet deployment. This session explores how network planners assess the impact of seasonality, the strategies they use to adapt, and where future opportunities may lie.

Panel 4: Beyond Summer - Crafting Low Season Experiences

Our panel of experts share proven strategies to package and promote off-season travel, from wellness retreats and winter festivals to nature-based and cultural immersion experiences.

Panel 5: Seasonality Meets Sustainability - Building Climate Resilience

Our panel discuss how climate change is shifting tourism patterns, and how destinations can build seasonal flexibility into their climate adaptation and sustainability planning.

Closing Keynote: Scale VS Soul

In an era where AI scales faster and thinks quicker, the question isn't just what machines can do, but what we as humans and organisations still uniquely bring to the table. How can we harness AI’s 100x power without losing our human touch? What truly sets us apart from machines, and how do we build organizations that SCALE without losing SOUL? Technology moves business, Soul moves people. The future truly belongs to those who understand and play with both. Will you be one of them?

Routes Europe Welcome Reception

Delegates join the airlines and airports from Routes Europe to be welcomed officially to Rimini for an informal networking evening highlighting how culture, heritage, gastronomy, and atmosphere can be part of a year-round tourism narrative.