As World Travel Market prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary the event’s chairperson Fiona Jeffery talks to Liz O’Reilly
What are the major changes to look out for at WTM this year?
This year is World Travel Market’s 30th event, for such a landmark occasion we have organised a number of new and exciting conferences and seminars for participants to enjoy.
These include:
• For the first time exhibitors and senior buyers from WTM’s Meridian Club will be able to participate in speed networking sessions
• Sport tourism is a growing sector of the industry, and WTM is reflecting this with its first ever Sports Tourism event
• The Get Funded Show. Based on the popular Dragons’ Den TV show travel entrepreneurs will pitch for investment in their business ideas
• Thomas Cook CEO Manny Fontenla-Novoa will address the largest ever Ministers’ Summit
• WTM has teamed up with its sister exhibition International Luxury Travel Market to run a luxury programme
• Disability is also a major focus this year with blind entrepreneur Amar Latif, who founded travel agency for blind holidaymakers Traveleyes, urging the industry to support disabled travellers better.
Which new countries are taking part this year?
More than 200 countries and regions will be participating in WTM 2009. New countries include Kosovo, Uzbekistan and Lesotho. Overall the event has more than 80 new exhibitors.
What are the new trends to look out for?
Sports tourism is a major new trend in the industry which WTM is putting particular focus on this year. The World Travel Market Global Trends Report, in association with Euromonitor International, will be unveiled on the first day.
How long does it take to organise the event?
The planning for each WTM takes 15 months, so planning starts before the previous WTM has even taken place.
WTM has a full-time in-house team of around 25 sales, marketing and operational staff. It would be almost impossible to quantify the man hours of the in-house team and the array of industry experts that help to shape WTM… lets just say it’s an awful lot! The team’s collective aim is to deliver a better event every year, their passion and commitment to do so is immense.
What is the percentage of Middle East exhibitors, is this number growing commensurate with the tourism development taking place across the region?
The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region of WTM is one of the most vibrant of the event, the innovation within the region makes it one of the most popular areas in WTM and it is just over 10 per cent of the overall floorspace at the show. The countries and companies that work within the region are so focused on travel and tourism that they continually use WTM to launch a range of new products and services. A growing trend is that the destinations are having more and more partners on their stands every year showcasing all the latest developments in the region.
How does WTM go about engaging with Mena exhibitors as compared to those from other regions of the world where tourism is perhaps more developed?
WTM has a very strong relationship with Mena, due to a number of reasons.
WTM utilises its parent company Reed Travel Exhibition’s office in Dubai to offer strong communication lines between ourselves and our Mena exhibitors.
At the same time Mena sales manager Simon Beck has been with WTM for more than seven years giving him a very strong understanding of the region’s travel and tourism industry. Also sales director Simon Press joined WTM from sister exhibition Arabian Travel Market demonstrating how strong and important the Mena region is to WTM.
Over the last few years we have conducted some very successful exhibitor training sessions in the region and are committed to supporting the market in this way.
WTM is once again hosting World Responsible Tourism Day, is there any indication that the message is getting across in the Mena region whose countries have some of the highest carbon footprints on earth?
Whilst the Middle East region has the largest projects and developments in place and being built, what is interesting is that an increasing number of these are becoming more sustainable and low impact. With so many international hotel chains moving into the region a number are being very responsible with their developments.
What is the message you will be pushing at the World Responsible Tourism Day events?
WTM wants to encourage the travel industry to support responsible and sustainable tourism. I believe the industry understands its responsibilities and is engaging even more with the responsible travel agenda.
The involvement of some of the world’s biggest travel organisations – including TUI Travel Europe’s largest travel companies – demonstrates the industry is focused and committed to responsible travel.
Key messages will be the importance of the rainforest with Dr Andrew Mitchell, senior advisor to The Prince’s Rainforest Project (HRH Prince of Wales) and director of the Global Canopy Programme, opening the day.