The former Canadian prime minister will join more than 1,000 delegates from over 100 countries as Malta hosts the three-day FUTU[RE]SET tourism gathering
Justin Trudeau will be a headline speaker at the 26th WTTC Global Summit in Valletta, Malta, from October 7 to 9, 2026.
- Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau will be a headline speaker at the 26th WTTC Global Summit in Valletta from October 7 to 9, 2026.
- WTTC expects more than 1,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including more than 200 Travel & Tourism CEOs, senior executives and government leaders.
- The FUTU[RE]SET programme will address geopolitical change, AI and emerging technology, aviation connectivity, investment, sustainability, workforce development and changing traveller expectations.
- WTTC says global Travel & Tourism investment exceeded $1 trillion in 2025, while the sector contributed a record $11.6 trillion to world GDP.
(NEWS) VALLETTA, Malta, 2026-Sep-10 — /Travel PR News/ — Justin Trudeau will take the stage in Valletta next month as a headline speaker at the World Travel & Tourism Council’s 26th Global Summit, adding a former G7 leader to a programme already drawing hundreds of senior tourism executives and government representatives to Malta.
The WTTC announcement published on September 10 places Trudeau among the principal voices at the October 7–9 gathering at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. Organisers expect more than 1,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including more than 200 Travel & Tourism CEOs, senior executives and public-sector leaders.
Trudeau served as Canada’s prime minister from November 2015 until March 2025, according to the House of Commons of Canada’s record of Canadian ministries. WTTC said his experience leading a G7 country through major international and domestic challenges will feed into summit discussions on leadership, resilience and cross-border cooperation.
FUTU[RE]SET puts disruption and long-term growth on the agenda
This year’s summit is being held under the theme FUTU[RE]SET, with sessions expected to examine how geopolitical change, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, aviation connectivity, investment and shifting traveller expectations are reshaping the global tourism economy.
The programme is designed around a central tension for the sector: how to sustain growth while becoming more resilient to political, technological and economic disruption. Workforce development, sustainability, destination development and the future traveller are also expected to feature across the three-day agenda.
The scale of the investment discussion is underscored by WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Research. In an August 2026 Global Trends update, the Council said worldwide Travel & Tourism investment exceeded $1 trillion in 2025, up 8.5% year on year, while the sector contributed a record $11.6 trillion to global GDP.
WTTC argues that sustained capital spending will be central to future job creation, destination development and connectivity. That makes the summit’s discussions around investment and competitiveness particularly relevant as governments and private-sector operators weigh infrastructure needs against changing demand, technology costs and geopolitical uncertainty.
More than 200 tourism leaders are expected in Malta
Trudeau’s addition follows WTTC’s September 3 confirmation of a broad industry delegation. Executives expected in Valletta include Christopher J. Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton; Elie Maalouf, Global CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts; Alejandro Reynal, President and CEO of Four Seasons; Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A; Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group; and Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division.
The event will also bring representatives from businesses spanning hospitality, aviation, cruise, financial services, travel distribution, technology and destination investment, alongside government and tourism authorities. Malta’s official participation includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Ian Borg and Minister for Tourism Jo Etienne Abela.
Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of WTTC, said Trudeau’s participation would add an international leadership perspective to a summit intended to address the future direction of Travel & Tourism. She also credited the Government of Malta and the Malta Tourism Authority for supporting the event.
Malta uses the summit to strengthen its tourism and investment profile
For Malta, hosting the WTTC gathering is as much a destination-positioning opportunity as an industry conference. Valletta was selected after interest from 21 destinations, according to WTTC, and the event will bring decision-makers who influence investment, airline connectivity, hotel development, distribution and tourism policy into the Maltese capital for three days.
The summit arrives after another strong year for the destination. Malta’s government said in February that tourist expenditure in 2025 approached €4 billion, while the country recorded what officials described as the European Union’s largest increase in tourism bed nights. The government has increasingly framed its strategy around higher-value tourism, resilience, environmental sustainability and stronger benefits for local communities.
Carlo Micallef, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, said the summit is an opportunity to present both the destination Malta is today and the one it is trying to build, with an emphasis on visitor quality, long-term value, communities and heritage. MTA Chairman Charles Mangion similarly linked the FUTU[RE]SET theme to questions about how tourism growth should be measured and balanced with sustainability.
For international delegates, the gathering will also put Valletta itself into the programme’s wider story. The city’s historic setting and Malta’s role as an island destination make issues such as connectivity, destination capacity, investment and community impact more than abstract conference topics.
WTTC is also making a limited number of Executive Access Passes available to senior leaders outside its membership community for the first time. Registration information is available through the summit’s Executive Access portal.
With Trudeau now joining a roster of tourism CEOs and government leaders, the October summit is shaping into a meeting where the industry’s economic scale and its exposure to global disruption will sit side by side. The central question in Valletta will be how Travel & Tourism converts continued growth into a more resilient, competitive and sustainable decade ahead.
