Thredbo 17 Conference

The 17th conference of the International Conference Series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport (The Thredbo Series) will be held in Kobe, Japan, from Sunday 5 to Friday 10 September 2021. The conference is jointly hosted by Kobe University and (at this stage) ITLS at the University of Sydney. This is the second time that the conference is being hosted in an Asian location.

The Thredbo conference series has garnered a formidable reputation for being the premier international forum dedicated to the analysis and debate of competition and ownership issues in land passenger transport. This influential forum attracts high quality participation and delivers a large portfolio of impressive material synthesising developments not only from developed economies but increasingly from developing economies.

The conference series is directed towards a broad audience of industry players (government and public transport operators), policy makers, planners, decision makers on infrastructure and service operators, consultants, researchers, academics and students. The mix at Thredbo 16 was: Industry (16%), government (18%), consultants (7%), and academics (59%).

As with past conferences, Thredbo 17 will feature plenary sessions and a series of intensive workshops based around keynote papers and a series of resource papers providing a range of international perspectives on each issue. There will be two plenary panels of key industry players and regulators. Please refer to the following draft program:

Kobe is located right in the centre of Japan. This mild port city, rich in nature, commands a view of the Seto Inland Sea against a breathtaking Rokko Mountain range. The city has prospered as a port for overseas trade since ancient times and has adopted various western cultures since its opening in 1868. With the modernisation of Japan, the city has grown mainly around maritime transport, shipbuilding, steel and medical industries to become a cosmopolitan city with a population of about 1.53 million and home to people from more than 130 countries. As a tourist destination, Kobe offers many attractions including the city night view, designated one of the three best night views in Japan, Seto Inland Sea cruising and Arima Onsen, a historic hot spring town with origins dating back as far as the 1600s. Kobe is also famous for its fine and diverse food culture, such as the world-famous Kobe Beef, Nada Sake and western confectioneries. We look forward to welcoming you to the international and open minded Kobe, where visitors can experience Japanese culture and tradition, a touch of European class and fine cuisine in an inspiring natural setting.

More information can be found at the Kobe Convention Bureau website.

Some of you may also want to consider adding some time for vacation in Japan in conjunction with the conference. September, or anytime for that matter, is a good time to visit. If you are planning to extend your stay in Japan, the Japan National Tourism website is a good start to help you decide what to see and do.

Local Organising Committee (Thredbo 17)

• Professor Nobuhiro Sanko (Chair) - Center for Social Systems Innovation & Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University
• Professor Fumitoshi Mizutani - Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University
• Associate Professor Jun Mizutani - Graduate School of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University
• Associate Professor Hiroki Sakai - Graduate School of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University
• Professor Emeritus Kenichi Shoji - Kobe University & Director, Institute of Urban Transport
• Assistant Professor Yeonjung Song - Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University
• Professor Kiyohito Utsunomiya - Faculty of Economics, Kansai University

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