I’ve just returned from the 2019 EMEA Travel Summit, held at Google’s Dublin offices, and I’m still buzzing from the insights and innovations shared. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, I make it a priority to fly to Ireland each year for these events—and once again, it proved to be absolutely worth it. Here’s a breakdown of the highlights for those who couldn’t attend, with a strong focus on how these takeaways can transform your travel business in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Day 1 Highlights – Innovation and Consumer Behavior
The first day kicked off with an engaging keynote by Ken Hughes, one of the world’s top consumer behaviorists. His talk on the modern travel consumer delved into how the desire for seamless, unified travel experiences is growing, especially among mobile users. He emphasized how personalization and understanding consumer psychology are the keys to capturing attention in an increasingly crowded travel market.
Leonor de L’Hermite, the Travel Vertical Search Business Lead at Google, followed this up with a session on unified travel experiences. She highlighted the increasing importance of mobile as a dominant platform for trip planning, showcasing a 6x increase in mobile searches for “things to do/activities near me” over the last two years . The trend is clear: travelers are looking for fast, effortless decisions and are increasingly using multiple devices. As a result, cross-device optimization is no longer optional—it’s essential.
Machine Learning and Mobile: The New Frontiers
The standout session for me was Aidan Kenny’s presentation on machine learning and its potential to reshape the travel industry. His key message was simple: work smarter, not harder. Through practical case studies, he illustrated how Google’s machine learning tools can help travel brands identify intent and optimize their marketing efforts automatically, resulting in better performance with less manual intervention.
Another significant session was Conor McGann’s talk on capturing mobile users’ intent . He shared the fascinating statistic that by 2020, over 5 billion mobile devices will be in use globally, making mobile the primary gateway to the online world. McGann stressed the importance of mobile-first strategies, particularly in crafting content and advertisements that resonate with users’ on-the-go behavior. The session drilled down into how mobile user experience (UX) improvements, such as faster load times and reducing the number of taps to reach valuable content, can drastically enhance conversion rates.
Customer-Centric Insights and Brandformance
Day 2 was packed with actionable insights on brandformance—a hybrid of branding and performance marketing. Yaron Markovich and Nadine Nasimi Wyrobnik from Google shared strategies on moving beyond traditional text-based search advertising and using creative, visually-driven content to drive growth. Their message resonated with the ongoing trend: in a world where everything is skippable, your content must capture attention instantly  .
One of the more interactive elements of the summit was a customer panel hosted by Noelia Fernandez Arroyo, Google’s Director for Northern Europe. Hearing directly from industry leaders gave valuable perspectives on how travel companies are successfully using Google’s tools to improve their customer engagement, streamline operations, and boost ROI.
Conclusion: Why You Should Attend the Next EMEA Travel Summit
Every year, the EMEA Travel Summit brings fresh insights and opportunities to connect with some of the sharpest minds in the industry. This year’s summit reaffirmed the importance of staying ahead of technological advancements, particularly in machine learning, mobile optimization, and understanding evolving consumer behavior.
For those in the travel industry who didn’t attend, I highly recommend making this summit a priority in the future. The wealth of knowledge shared by Google’s experts—and the chance to network with peers from across the globe—makes it an indispensable event for anyone looking to drive innovation and success in travel.
Stay tuned for more insights from the summit as I begin implementing these strategies into our campaigns. Here’s to a smarter, more connected future in travel!