The Frankfurt-based group’s chief executive Soren Hartmann will be a top speaker at the event in Sorrento in June – the first time he will have addressed a UK travel conference.

DER Touristik has businesses in 14 European countries with revenue of €7 billion.

Hartmann is expected to talk about how the company has integrated the Swiss Kuoni group – including its UK operation – since buying it in September last year.

He has pledged to retain Kuoni’s various identities in different markets, creating a portfolio of European companies.

Hartmann has a long history in the travel industry, starting in 1986 on an agent-training programme with Tui Group.

His tenure at the helm of DER began in May 2014, when it was operating only in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe.

In September 2015 he began an expansion drive, creating the umbrella group that now operates in Europe’s leading source markets.

Steven Freudmann, chairman of ITT, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Soren will be speaking at next year’s ITT Conference.

“DER Touristik is the world’s third largest travel company with more than 2,400 agencies and 7.7 million clients annually.

“Having acquired Kuoni, it is now a major player in the UK market.”

Hartmann will join the conference’s headline speaker, the former chancellor, George Osborne.

He is expected to tackle issues including Brexit and the expansion of Heathrow, both of which will have been the subject of months of negotiations by the time the conference takes place.

More top-name speakers from the industry will be revealed in the coming weeks.

ITT is hoping for high levels of attendance for the event at the Hilton Sorrento Palace, as the short-haul destination follows the conference being held in Tel Aviv and Barbados in the preceding years.

Member delegates can benefit from reduced rates until January 1.