The terms the transatlantic corridor will run on next year are being worked out right now, in separate rooms, by people who rarely sit together. On October 15 in Dublin, they do.
In partnership with the European Travel Commission and hosted by Tourism Ireland, the confirmed 2026 lineup for Change the Transatlantic Summit runs heavy on policy, which raises the stakes on every industry session that follows. When a minister and a Brussels regulator are in the room, the growth and connectivity debates carry consequences the whole table will act on.
Who’s Speaking at Skift Transatlantic Summit
The confirmed speakers sit on different sides of decisions this room is there to work through.
The rules the corridor runs on:
- Peter BurkeMinister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Government of Ireland, opens the day.
- Maja Bakran MarcichDeputy Director-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission, takes up where regulation and growth pull against each other: the constraints that shape what the industry can sell and how it moves people.
- Ailish CampbellExecutive Vice President, Global Public Sector, Mastercard, and former Canadian Ambassador to the EU, brings the North American trade-and-policy read.
The demand the market is reordering:
- With U.S. inbound softening, every destination is rethinking how it competes. Alice ManserghCEO, Tourism Ireland, and Eduardo SantanderCEO, European Travel Commission, work the growth question in a shifted market.
- Adam OubuihCEO, Atout France, and Sylvia WeilerPresident, Global Destinations, Sojern, weigh how destinations win the U.S. traveler now, and where AI rewrites the playbook.
- Lindsay GrantVice President, Marketing, Meet Boston, brings the view from the U.S. side, competing for the same corridor traveler from the other end.
The traffic worth redirecting:
- Jean-François BessironChief B2B Officer, Omio, and incoming CEO, Rail Europe, works on connectivity across air and ground with Reid MoodyChief Strategy and Planning Officer, Aer Lingus.
- Routing that demand is its own problem: Wendy Olson KillionCEO, Rome2Rio, and Edison ChenVice President, Trip.com Group, take on how travelers actually find and book their way there.
Who the growth actually reaches:
- Yvonne NassarCEO, NBTC Netherlands, and Ana Tripković MarkovićDirector, National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, press the question underneath the headline numbers: whether corridor growth reaches the small businesses and local economies that depend on it.
New Skift Research on winning travelers in an age of infinite choice, and the executive roundtable lunch, are on the full agenda.
Every Seat is Reviewed
Places are limited and reviewed individually. The room is built for senior leaders accountable for corridor outcomes: director-level and above at destinations, airlines, tour operators, travel sellers, and online travel agencies, alongside the policymakers who shape the rules the rest operate under.
The corridor’s terms are being reset this year. Dublin is where you help set them, rather than react once they are fixed.
Source: skift.com
