The successful sixth edition of WTM Latin America ended

With confidence in the Latin American market, exhibitors, industry professionals, allies and other players in the tourism and travel market, present at the sixth edition of WTM Latin America, can celebrate this advance that reveals the reactivation of the sector for this year.

In the three days of the event, the estimate is that they have conquered considerable returns for the market. One of the examples, and reflection of that positive movement, are the sessions of Speed ​​Networking that, for the first time, were five, and totaled more than 12 thousand meetings.

Who went through the hectic and colorful corridors of the event, between April 3 and 5, must also have noticed the amount of negotiations and meetings that took place in each part of the Blue and Branco pavilions.

"I think the fair was very good, in terms of organization and the layout of the stands. For the Group it has been very interesting to be here. It was an experience that we will repeat in the coming year, "said José Ignacio de Oca, Commercial Director for Latin America, Globalia. For me, one of the strengths of WTM Latin America is that we managed to realize many businesses. Normally, in events we only do networking. I am sure that many of the businesses carried out here will have continuity. "

"The pavilions represented a lot of what is happening with the travel and tourism market, we are in full steam. And the number of meetings held during the Speed ​​Networking sessions reflects the objective of the event, of conducting business. We gathered the world in three days of fair and that became evident for who circulated for the stands during this edition. Definitely, we brought the world to Latin America and we showed Latin America to the world, "said Luciane Leite, director of WTM Latin America.

In total, there were more than 40 operators present at the event, and some already showed interest in returning in the 2019 edition, including: R11, Grou, Travel Ace Intertouring, Hotel DO, TT Operadora and ITA.

According to Renato Dassan Verdi, regional sales manager for São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, of Travel Ace Assistance, "the event is a unique opportunity to approach customers and also to network and win new accounts. At WTM Latin America we managed to find prospects with whom we tried to make appointments long ago and we never got an available schedule in the agenda of those executives. But, during the event, that first contact is what contributes to achieving better results, "says Verdi.

With regard to content allies, Omnibees is interested in being present again in the next edition. "We are very happy with our participation in the event, both as exhibitors and sponsors of the content of the conferences. We consider that this is the path for the transformation of our tourism ", declares Paulo Salvador, from Omnibees.

The destinations, likewise, registered success during the three days of the fair. Cities such as Parati (Rio de Janeiro) and Foz do Iguaçu (Paraná), and countries such as Turkey, Ecuador, Chile and Indonesia also showed interest in returning next year. "The Brazilian market has enormous potential for Ecuador. The purchasing capacity of Brazilians is very attractive and we consider that Ecuador has an excellent diversity in terms of culture, gastronomy and historic cities. We have a variety of options available in the northern, central and southern regions - which are very different communities. All this is a set of opportunities for Brazilians, not only for regular tourism, but also for conventions and congresses. We have a very good hotel capacity, with excellent international chains ", highlights José Luis Egas, Minister of Tourism of Ecuador. "We rate our participation in the fair as successful. We want to return and encourage the Brazilian market to come to our country. "

Corporate tourism
Another successful Program of this edition, which attracted the attention of both visitors and exhibitors, was Corporate Tourism. With around eight brand activations during the event, including talks, seminars and conferences, the leading entities reinforced the importance of the main B2B event for tourism and travel in Latin America. Among them were GBTA (Global Business Travel Association), ALAGEV, TMG and ABRACORP, in addition to the airline Avianca, responsible for bringing 50 corporate travel managers to the event.

"In addition to the LACTE" Latin American Corporate Travel & Events Experience ", the idea is to hold this type of meeting four times a year. Considering that ALAGEV has multisectorial communities -comprised basically by managers, players and suppliers-, our objective, through the first ALAGEV Global Community Meeting, is to share information, deliver more, connect people and generate content, "said the president of ALAGEV, Rodrigo Cezar, who celebrates the benefits of this alliance.

New exhibitors
Regarding the debutants, in this edition, WTM Latin America brought six hotels - Royal Palm Plaza, Wyndham Hotels, Master Hotel, Maksoud Hotel, Hotel Alfa Moscow and the Brazilian chain Luzeros Hotéis. "For Alpha Moscow it was important to participate in WTM, our focus now is Latin America. First, because of the great interest in FIFA. And, second, because we want to increase our business in the region, mainly in Brazil and Argentina. And, of course, increase our profit. This event was excellent in that sense. The organization was impeccable, "said Danila Krasnov, sales director Alfa Hotel Moscow (Russia).

Speaking again of destinations, three Brazilian cities that debuted at the event, which presented their natural beauty, such as its crystal clear waters, were the beautiful Ilha Bela, located on the north coast of São Paulo; Porto de Galinhas, in the state of Pernambuco; and Parati, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with its natural and architectural charms. According to Brenda Silveira, executive director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Porto de Galinhas, the main beach in the city of Ipojuca, "being present at an event with this profile is very important, since it makes it possible to meet with operators and allies of the national and international market. , which generates business, besides promoting tourism in the region. " In partnership with the municipality of the city of Ipojuca (state of Pernambuco) the Porto de Galinhas Convention & Visitors Bureau, launched an experience entitled "An Immersion in Porto de Galinhas" at WTM Latin America 2018.

Present at the Destination Pavilion -one of the new areas created especially for this edition-, Living Tours celebrated its important business with strategic market players. "This type of event is very important for the sector. We have already participated in WTM London and in Arabian Travel Market, in Dubai, but this is the first time we have exhibited at WTM Latin America. I think it is very important to maintain relations with our current allies and create new relationships with potential clients. The event for us has been a success ", Vítor Bezerra, manager of Living Tours Portugal and Spain.

According to Charlie Cracknell, senior director of Reed Travel Exhibitions, "We connect 7 million people, through a global portfolio with 500 events around the globe. Our business is events and we create a solid networking. We are present in more than 22 sectors. "

Content that complemented the agenda
ALAGEV opened the agenda of the day with the "Alagev Global Community Meeting", which brought together almost 80 professionals from the corporate tourism sector. "This meeting format allows a greater approximation between the communities and, consequently, more solid conclusions, which propose effective improvements for the flow in the sector", commented the executive director of ALAGEV, Eduardo Murad.
At the Inspire Theater, the conference "Smart Tourism Map Innovation Cases", given by the National Tourism Coordinator-SEBRAE Nacional, Heleni Riginos addressed the technology issue as one of the four pillars with which SEBRAE works to implement destinations smart For his part, André Gyurkovits, Client Partner of Facebook, presented success stories to refine the content of the campaigns on the platform.
One of the first conferences of the Travel Tech Theater explained, through five main steps, the ways to increase profitability in the hotel industry. The speaker was Rodolfo Delphorno, Business Manager of the Omnibees company, who commented: "The hotelier has to be a visionary, he has to follow the trends".
With the theme "Demystifying the World of Startups", Carlos Carnero, CEO of Startadora, closed the last conference cycle of the Travel Tech Theater. For the executive, tourism startups that want to consolidate and grow rapidly must keep in mind that a flexible model, a scalable business, a repeatable delivery and innovation is necessary. "This method works with any idea and with any business," the CEO completed.