..Hosted 18,097 Participants Against 8,829 In 2014
The World Travel Market London 2015’s Conference and Event programme has for the first time smashed the attendance records of the 36 years old market with a total delegate of 18,097, which represent an increase of 6.2 per cent.
The huge participation in the market by delegates, visitors and exhibitors was despite the terrorism threats world over.
WTM London 2015 also played host to over 100 conferences and events.
According to WTM the number of unique delegates that attended the sessions increased by 2.2 per cent to 9,027 compared to that of 2014 with total attendance of 8,829.
The market’s records indicated that in 2013, the number of unique delegates that attended the sessions was 8,482 while in 2012, the number of attendance was 7,494.
Speaking on the August market, the WTM London, Conference and Seminar Manager, Charlotte Sutton said, “The WTM London Conference and Seminar programme was a great success with a record number of unique and overall attendees listening and learning from high profile speakers from both inside and outside the travel and tourism industry.”
On his part, WTM London, Senior Director, Simon Press, stated that the market was a good success in view of the number of attendance the conference recorded.
According to him, “World Travel Market 2015 was a great success, with almost 50,000 delegates in attendance and a record number of attendees at the conference and events sessions, breaking through the 18,000 barrier for the first time.”
The conference and events programmes, which included sessions on aviation, cruise, hotels, sports tourism, technology, wellness and responsible tourism experienced massive visitor growth on two of the four days of WTM London 2015.
Records showed that on Monday, November 2, WTM recorded a 14 per cent increase in attendance to 2,781 compared to the previous year.
The first day of WTM London 2015 included the prestigious WTM Leaders’ Lunch event, which saw former Manchester United CEO David Gill address more than 200 of travel’s senior leaders.
The WTM Buyers’ Speed Networking also saw around 1,000 exhibitors and buyers discuss business deals before the exhibition floor opened.
On Tuesday, November 3, almost 600 people attended the WTM and United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Ministers’ Summit on Destination Branding.
On Wednesday, November 4,there was a 25 per cent increase in delegates to 6,298 and the huge number was further propelled by the popular WTM World Responsible Tourism Day coupled with the Spafinder Wellness Travel Awards that also took place that day.
On Thursday, November 6, the market hosted a large travel tech show and the largest WTM Bloggers’ Speed Networking event with 100 bloggers talking to exhibitors for 90 minutes took place.
The Travel Tech Show at WTM Event programme, which includes technology, social media, blogging and mobile, had a total attendance of 8,168 representing 10.5 per cent increase on 2014’s attendance.
Headline speakers across the programme included former Manchester United, Chief Executive Officer, David Gill, Face book Head of Travel, Lee McCabe, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Airlines, Christophe Mueller, TUI Purchasing Director, Garry Wilson, Boeing UK and Ireland Strategy Director, Richard Mills and leading climate change expert Kevin Anderson.
The rise in the number of participants at the WTM London Conference and Seminar programme is part of the wider success story of WTM London 2015, which saw almost 50,000 delegates attend over the four days.
Recalled that 40 countries, 221 exhibitors and 9,000 trade visitors took part in the first ever WTM at London Olympia in 1980 and today , WTM facilitates £2.5 billion in industry deals and has about 5,000 exhibitors from 186 countries and regions and over than 50,000 participants.
