Chair Steven Freudmann said the annual event would see someone from outside the industry invited to speak about the business of travel.

By encouraging them not to pull any punches, he is also hoping the events will become forums for new ideas thanks to the different perspective on offer.

Freudmann said: “The Odyssey Suppers tend to have speakers from inside the industry talking about their lives within and thoughts about the industry.

“The ITT Lecture will be like the BBC’s Reith Lectures, which is very much an outsider’s point of view.

“We spend too much time navel gazing and we should be challenging the industry’s status quo. The idea is that the speakers will challenge us with new ideas.

“We need to get the outsider’s point of view as to whether we are getting it right or wrong, and who the future disruptors are likely to be, as there are enough of them about.

“We hope that it will be the first of many annual lectures.”

Freudmann said the two-hour event had been designed to include a Q&A section, allowing the audience to give their own feedback as well as deepen the conversation.

He added that the speaker at the inaugural event on September 21 was Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, who spoke at this year’s ITT conference in Ras Al Khaimah.

Freudmann said: “He’s got strong views about where our industry gets it right and wrong, and was an advisor to Tony Blair.”

He added that Taylor proved to be one of the most popular speakers at the conference and Freudmann was confident he would be so again.