In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Christopher Follenus, Senior Travel Industry Sales Supervisor at Visit Central Florida.
I wanted to ask you about your experience of having been to an event like this.
Well, it is super important that we came to this type of event because in the tourism industry, the most important thing is the relationship within the industry itself with the people, with the operators, with the media, with everyone. So, opportunities like World Travel Market, whether in Brazil or London, are essential here in this industry. We know everything digital and everything is very important, but the relationship is also very important, the industry community is super important, that is why we have to come to these events every year.
And the organization told us that especially on Monday they marked a historical record of 49,000 people here at the exhibition.
Of course, this year we have been very busy. We have had meetings. We are very happy with this year's results with World Travel Market.
It's November. The year is ending. I wanted a reflection on what this year has been like for you.
2023 has been a little softer or not as busy as 2022, because after the pandemic it has been a little strange, not like before because we had all the demand after COVID, so 2021 was the most successful year we have had in history . And in 2023 things have normalized a bit, but we are already seeing that 2024 and 2025 are going to be better than this year, although it has been good, but not as good as 2019, for example.
And what are the next events where you will be presenting?
We are going to be in Florida Huddle in Miami Beach and also some domestic ones within the United States. We have a team that goes to ANATO and events in Latin America and we also have IPW every year. We have to always be there.
What surprises are coming that you can anticipate for next year?
Well, our first attraction in Central Florida is Legoland, the Legoland resort, which already has three hotels, three theme parks, so they are going to debut a new ride, new attraction this coming year, so we are waiting for that. They're going to announce the name and what it's going to do soon, so we're looking forward to that.