The International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) this month welcomes around 1,280 exhibitors from over 85 countries and over 1200 VIP buyers from 75 nations through the doors of Le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France.
Now in its sixth year, this B2B event for the luxury travel industry taking place from December 3 to 6 has seen a gradual growth since its inception in 2002, mirroring the evolution in the luxury travel industry. Last year the show had 1245 exhibiting companies and 1,050 VIP buyers attending.
This growth is aided by a careful selection and screening process of all attendees, a 1:1 ratio between buyers and exhibitors, and the ability for everyone to target and confirm their schedules well in advance. This year over 45,000 pre-scheduled appoint-ments will take place during the show.
Ryan Wallace, sales manager at ILTM says, “The growth from 2006 has been strictly controlled with a greater emphasis being placed on the qualification of buyers and exhibitors than ever before.”
Attendance at a previous ILTM event does not automatically qualify a buyer or exhibitor for the next year and every year the show revises its admission policy to ensure that it hosts the highest quality buyers and exhibitors, he added.
“One of the benefits of our thorough qualification process is that we are the first to hear about new buyers in the luxury travel market, bringing fresh opportunities to our exhibitors,” Wallace added.
“This year we’ll welcome 715 new individual buyers to ILTM which equates to 60 per cent of the total number of hosted buyers at the event.”
Wallace says the show organisers listen carefully to feedback received at the end of each show and use it to improve for the following year.
“Last year for example, we experienced a demand from exhibitors for a wider range of buyers across a broader spectrum of corporate and niche markets and we have taken this into consideration in our qualifying criteria for 2007.”
by Cheryl Mandy