Future of Travel speakers revealed Travel Weekly reporters


Leaders of a range of the UK’s largest travel agencies and suppliers will join experts from related fields at the 2026 Travel Weekly Future of Travel Conference this autumn. The ninth Future of Travel


Conference will return in partnership with Google at its offices in central London on Thursday, September 10, and will feature discussions, presentations and debates about the big issues facing the industry. Confirmed supplier speakers


include Tui UK & Ireland managing director Neil Swanson and easyJet holidays chief executive Garry Wilson. Senior travel agency representatives include On the Beach chief executive


Shaun Morton, Travel Counsellors managing director Kirsten Hughes, Barrhead Travel managing director Nicki Tempest-Mitchell and Hays Travel non-executive director Mohsen Ghasempour. The trade speakers will be


joined by experts from related fields including Google director of travel Anna Sawbridge, CMA legal director Jason Freeman, Abta finance director Michael Budge, White Hart Associates head of travel and leisure Chris Photi and Themis Advisory director Joanna Kolatsis. The 2026 conference will be


supported by News UK alongside premium sponsors easyJet holidays and Feefo, destination partner Gibraltar and sponsors Seabourn,


EasyJet director shares diagnosis to support others


Andrew McQuarrie


EasyJet holidays chief operating officer Matt Callaghan has said he hopes sharing his diagnosis of young onset Parkinson’s disease will encourage people to show greater kindness to others. Callaghan, who spoke to Travel


Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley in a webcast interview, published a LinkedIn post last month, a year after his diagnosis, in which he highlighted that people are often managing invisible challenges. He told Travel Weekly: “There


are so many people who have got challenges or conditions that are


6 28 MAY 2026


invisible to most of us, but that they’re carrying heavily.” He added: “If we could all just take


some micro-steps to show a greater degree of understanding and kindness and empathy to just one person, that might be the difference that person really would need and value.” Callaghan, who was 40 when told


of his condition, said the diagnosis came as a “huge shock”. “For me, Parkinson’s disease


didn’t affect people like me; it didn’t affect younger people,” he added. He first sought medical advice


after his young daughter made a comment while they were sitting together on the sofa in January last


overseas, and the insight provided by our expert speakers will be invaluable in supporting businesses as they navigate an uncertain future.” She added: “I would like to


September 10, 2026


Stuba and Themis Advisory. Travel Weekly editor-in-chief


Lucy Huxley said: “The Future of Travel Conference has become firmly established as a must-attend event for senior industry leaders, and we are delighted that the 2026 edition will take place again in association with our long-standing partners at Google. “The industry is once again facing a range of challenges at home and


•Attendance at the Future of Travel Conference is by invitation only.


thank the many speakers who have already agreed to take part, with more to be announced, and would also like to extend my thanks to News UK, easyJet holidays, Feefo, Visit Gibraltar, Seabourn, Stuba and Themis Advisory, without whose support we would not be able to run events such as this.”


However, if you would like to register your interest in attending should places become available, please visit: travelweekly.co.uk/futureoftravel26


Matt Callaghan


year. “My daughter just said to me, ‘Daddy, are you cold? Because you’re shivering’,” he said. “She could feel a tremor in my


arm, which, after a few different medical appointments, resulted in me being diagnosed at the end of March 2025.” He felt like his “whole world then


changed”, but found some comfort in the consultant’s advice that he should “think about things in decades, not in years”. After processing his condition


with family, he decided he should speak about it publicly on the anniversary of his diagnosis. “I thought the greater good here


has got to be to share my experiences, because people want leaders to be human and to recognise we’ve all got things going on in our lives, and there isn’t this persona that leaders have to be ultra-resilient and always in control,” he said. He added: “I guarantee there will


be someone in everyone’s team who is carrying something day in, day out that the rest of the team aren’t aware of.” Callaghan said his diagnosis has


helped him identify what is important, noting the travel industry and his career remain as key as ever. “My diagnosis doesn’t change


who I am, it just sometimes changes how I have to do things,” he added.


travelweekly.co.uk


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