As the leader of the ForwardKeys Insights team, Olivier Ponti is one of the world’s most authoritative experts in travel research and destination marketing. He gives dozens of conference presentations and media interviews a year, cross-referencing ForwardKeys’ considerable data with numerous other sources, to identify new travel trends; forecast future travel patterns; reveal the impact of events on travel and provide deep insights into the travellers of tomorrow.

Previously, Olivier was Research Manager, Amsterdam Marketing, where he helped attract tourism and business investment to the city by judicious use of market research and compelling presentation. Latterly, as Amsterdam became increasingly popular, his data-driven approach was at the heart of successful initiatives to balance the demands of visitors, residents and businesses.

Until June 2018, he was also Chairman of the Research & Statistics working group of European Cities Marketing (ECM) where he played a pivotal role in developing the Group’s research tools and reports, as well as establishing strategic partnerships.

Olivier Ponti’s career in city tourism started in 2004 when he was appointed manager of the tourism research department of the Paris Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Olivier was educated at Sciences‐Po in Paris where he gained a Master’s Degree in Economics, and at the Sorbonne University where he gained a Master’s Degree in Tourism Development. His connection to academia continues, as he teaches Market Intelligence at the Sorbonne.