By Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny
After a pretty dull 2021 edition, the 2022 World Travel Market London has been a true success. This B2B in-person event is the place where tourism businesses from around the planet meet to shape our future travels and holidays.
From 6 to 8, November the ExCel exhibition and international convention centre set in East London was packed with renowned tourism destinations and attractions, with the biggest names in accommodation and hospitality, with innovative travel technology providers and airlines and of course with the international press. I made the trip from France to give you an insider point of view.
The post-Covid era has clearly come for tourism worldwide. As travel restrictions with mandatory PCR tests and/or vaccination are no longer relevant in a huge majority of countries optimism is back in the tourist industry. Professionals actually feared that people would have changed their way of thinking after the lockdowns and would favour virtual travel. But the exact opposite is happening. People are eager to get away from their daily grind and live real experiences far from home.
A huge number of travel professionals walked through the doors at WTM last week with over 35,800 people participating -much more than expected- and presenting over double the attendance than that of 2021. The aisles of the show were filled with energy and it felt good to chat and work face-to-face with old acquaintances and make new ones. Besides those working directly in the tourism business, 1,500 media and ministerial from 55 nations attended the event.
As before the destination stands attracted all the attention at once. The Middle East was well represented, especially at the elegant Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia stands. Saudi Arabia aims to be the new trendy destination and apart from its main stand there even was a second one exclusively devoted to its flagship project -the Red Sea Project- and a third one for NEOM another mammoth project set in the heart of Arabian mountains.
The Asian countries’ stands were an explosion of colours and beautiful decor. New travel trends are emerging as the Philippines, Vietnam and India stand drew all the attention.
Not to mention Thailand which has just opened up its borders to foreign travellers that have been looking forward to going back to this enchanting country.
Islands really are on the roll. Whether as a holiday destination or as part of a cruise islands are the new travel desire. Maldives and Seychelles are the top choices of far-away destinations and Cuba is still doing well. But of course, Greece and its countless number of islands do wonders.
It’s been the number 1 sunshine destination in Europe this year and has every intention to keep this place in the future. Other stands didn’t do as well as these. I sadly have to say that France’s stand was boring. France is said to be the country welcoming the largest number of tourists every year but it clearly didn’t attract much attention during WTM!
This year WTM London’s success was very comforting. With hundreds of stands, thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of professional visitors doing business together it’s been a big success. 55 ministerial representations made the trip to London to support their national tourism industry.
They did many press conferences and exposed their future plans. This is a very good sign that expresses the long-term health of the tourism sector. Ready to pack?
Text & Photos ©Annick Dournes & Frederic de Poligny
is back on tracks
