ALTO Blog

The warm atmosphere at ALTO’s 5th Annual Conference in Madrid wasn’t just due to the Spanish weather; this event is second to none when it comes to a collaborative spirit, friendly ambiance, and a productive element behind each activity. A sell-out event with 80 attendees, the ALTO Conference took place May 4-6, 2017 at the beautiful 5-star Westin Palace in the heart of Spain’s capital city. Leaders and decision makers of the language travel industry came together to boost their businesses through top-level networking and professional development sessions. The packed schedule included: Dynamic keynote speakers; Industry panel discussion; Roundtable discussions; Speed dating with potential business partners; Networking opportunities with the leaders of our industry. Outstanding Guest Speakers This year’s conference focused on the evolution of the language and educational travel industry, with content designed to help participants prepare and respond effectively in these chal

Friday morning in Madrid kicked off with a powerful keynote presentation on emerging business models and how to adjust to stay relevant in increasingly competitive times. ALTO was proud to welcome Carlos Escario, who serves as an Adjunct Professor at IESE Business School. Carlos is also involved with a number of additional academic institutions around the world, and is a managing partner at management consultancy firm Huete&CO . As new industries and business models continue to emerge, they create “black holes” that threaten existing businesses. Carlos revealed the patterns that facilitate the emergence of new business models and explored methods to help attendees avoid become irrelevant. Not all organisations will successfully transform over time, and Carlos diagnosed various stages of growth, and included suggestions and practices to revitalise innovation and market focus. Over the course of the morning, Carlos took us through “The 5 Terrains” to conquer: Big or niche Ma

Given the explosive rise and powerful influence of peer-to-peer platforms, the Madrid conference also welcomed Rosario Silva, tourism industry expert and Professor of Strategic Management at IE Business School, IE University Madrid. Rosario examined research into the sharing economy’s influence on the hotel industry in Spain, giving us food for thought as to how the language travel industry also might be affected. Her presentation was broken down into five main topics: Characteristics of the sharing economy Key issues when managing sharing platforms Drivers that stimulate the sharing economy, plus positive and negative effects of these firms Research on the effect of Airbnb on the Spanish hotel industry New regulations in the Spanish accommodation sector Characteristics of the sharing economy A Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report “ The Future of the Sharing Economy in Europe 2016 ” has chronicled the spectacular rise of sharing economy firms in a very short space of ti