THE World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced a $5 million multi-platform global partnership with television channels CNBC, National Geographic Channel and Sky News being appointed official WTTC broadcast partners for the next three years.
The agreement calls for CNBC and National Geographic to provide commercial airtime, online marketing and direct engagement in a global campaign to help promote awareness of the economic and social importance of the travel and tourism industry worldwide.
CNBC will target its audience of CEOs, senior business leaders and government officials via its global network to underscore the industry’s contribution to the global economy and WTTC’s Global Travel and Tourism Summit, taking place in Beijing from May 25 to 27.
National Geographic Channel will also provide commercial airtime to promote the summit and WTTC’s Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. Advertisements will also air on Sky News in Europe and be streamed online on National Geographic Channel websites and on its dedicated travel and tourism portal.
The channel will be involved in the summit, filming debates and networking events.
“WTTC is extremely pleased to have both CNBC and National Geographic Channel as our broadcast partners” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president and CEO of WTTC.
“The combined reach of these channels enables us to raise awareness of travel and tourism’s contribution to national economies around the world.”
“Together they’ll provide year-round exposure for WTTC and highly targeted marketing campaigns to their own audiences, which will drive discussion and debate to raise awareness of the importance of travel and tourism as one of the world’s largest industries, employing 220 million people and generating more than 9.4 per cent of global GDP.”
Paul Maraviglia, vice president sales EMEA at CNBC said: “We are delighted that the World Travel & Tourism Council has chosen a multi-platform, three-year partnership with CNBC. The travel and tourism industry is an important sector for us and we are eager to work with WTTC, not only to reinforce the important role that the industry plays in today’s economy, but also to help its members communicate their message to our influential senior-business-leader audience.”
Deborah Armstrong, Senior VP sales and partnership marketing at National Geographic Channel and Sky News, said: “National Geographic Channel is delighted to be working with WTTC to build awareness of the importance of the travel industry.
“With global reach and local programming feeds, NGC provides a ‘window on our world’, inspiring, informing and engaging our viewers with the key challenges shaping our planet.
“Sky News, as Europe’s most-watched news channel, is dedicated to bringing viewers the news as it happens, anywhere around the world and will provide WTTC with the opportunity to target its message to key influentials across the region.”