Photos and Videos

World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) members Dr. Richard Kelley, Chairman Emeritus of Outrigger Enterprises, left, and Brett Tollman, CEO of TravCorp, were among the volunteers who planted 2,500 ivy plants in Madrid's Retiro Park. The event was organized by Tourism Cares and was held the day before the WTTC Global Summit began.

Photos & Videos

Focus on Global Travel: WTTC Global Summit 2015

World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) members Dr. Richard Kelley, Chairman Emeritus of Outrigger Enterprises, left, and Brett Tollman, CEO of TravCorp, were among the volunteers who planted 2,500 ivy plants in Madrid's Retiro Park. The event was organized by Tourism Cares and was held the day before the WTTC Global Summit began. Photo Credit: TW photo by Arnie Weissmann

World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) members Dr. Richard Kelley, Chairman Emeritus of Outrigger Enterprises, left, and Brett Tollman, CEO of TravCorp, were among the volunteers who planted 2,500 ivy plants in Madrid's Retiro Park. The event was organized by Tourism Cares and was held the day before the WTTC Global Summit began.

Felipe VI, the king of Spain, welcomes (left to right) paleoanthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey, model and philanthropist Petra Nemcova and Geoffrey Kent, chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Kent. Unless noted, photos courtesy of WTTC.

Orbitz CEO Barney Harford couldn't resist the opportunity to take a selfie with Felipe VI, the King of Spain, at the opening night dinner for members at the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit in Madrid.

Asked by interviewer Nick Ross how essential it was for politicians to ''lie or dissemble,'' former president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barossa said, ''I never lied in office, but it is true that there are different levels of sincerity.''

Richard Fenning, CEO of Control Risks, told delegates that ISIS, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ebola did not worry him as much as a hard landing for the Chinese economy as it slows down.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary lived up to his bad boy reputation and immediately began insulting politicians, competitors and the French.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel CEO Doug Anderson identified the Eurozone crisis, low cost carriers and rigorous screening of travel expenses as being among the most disruptive influences on corporate travel agencies in the past five years.

Kathleen Matthews, chief global communications and public affairs officer for Marriott International moderated two panels, one on ''Freedom to Travel'' and the other on ''Policies for Growth.''

WTTC delegates listen to a social media panel titled ''Letting the Outside In.''

U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow participated on the panel ''Focus on Cities -- reinvention, differentiation and inspiration.''

Darren Huston, CEO of the Priceline Group, spoke about some of the difficulties of operating in Europe, from confusing data roaming plans to an excessive number of taxing authorities.

AIG Travel CEO Jeff Rutledge, speaking about business disruptions, talked about how disruption sometimes comes from innovation. Personalized marketing led to the need to collect and analyze more and more data, which leads to data breaches. ''Disruption keeps distracting us from the reasons we're in business,'' he said.

Darrell Wade, CEO of Peak Adventure Travel, discussed the challenges tour operators face in measuring and communicating sustainability.

Presenting the winners of WTTC's Tourism for Tomorrow program, a program which recognizes travel businesses that have made extraordinary efforts to incorporate sustainable business practices.

The disruptive effects of technology were dissected by (left to right) CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg; Airbnb head of global hospitality and strategy Chip Conley; Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi; Federico J. Gonzalez Tejara, CEO of NH Hotel Group; Michel Taride, president of the Hertz Corporation; and Rob Torres, managing director of Google.

Silverseas Cruises Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre joined a group that pulled audience questions from a box and attempted to answer them.

Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann moderated a panel exploring activity around the effectiveness of the Global Travel Association Coalition.

UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Refai underscored the importance of private and public sectors working together for the good of both.

IATA CEO and Director General Tony Tyler tells Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann what airlines are doing to reduce carbon emissions.

WTTC CEO David Scowsill goes over the four pillars of the Global Travel Association Coalition: Travel facilitation, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability and investment in people.