The Travel Industry Association's Annual strategic forecasting conference for the U.S. travel industry, the Marketing Outlook Forum, will feature enhanced programming this year, including early results of a major new study on the Chinese travel market, major presentations by high-level speakers plus an additional half-day of free professional development seminars. The conference will take place October 22—25 in Charlotte, NC.“By expanding the program to two full days, we’re able to provide delegates with a critical look at the industry’s performance, consumer and market trends, forecasts, strategies and marketing intelligence for the year to come,” said Roger Dow, President and CEO of the Travel Industry Association. “Plus, the addition of a free half-day of professional development seminars for delegates makes this conference truly a timely event.”A number of new research studies will debut this year at the Forum, including data on the golf travel market and the second-phase of the Ideal American Vacation: Leisure Travel Planning report. Groundbreaking new data on the emerging Chinese travel market will also be released.“With 115 million Chinese expected to travel internationally by 2020, capturing just one percent of this market would be phenomenal for the U.S.,” said Bruce Bommarito, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Travel Industry Association.Bommarito will be convening 31 provincial Chinese tourism directors with 45 U.S. state tourism directors during the Forum to foster relationship-building and information exchange between the two countries.