World Travel Market (WTM) London 2024 opened its doors on 5 November, attracting thousands of industry professionals from around the world. This year’s event is the largest to date, bringing together more than 4,000 exhibitors and delegates from 184 countries, including Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, to discuss the latest trends, innovations and challenges facing global tourism.
WTM London and its global travel partner, the Saudi Arabian Tourism Authority, praised the economic and cultural importance of the sector. Speaking at WTM Global Welcome, Jonathan Heastie, Portfolio Director at WTM, said: “The halls are already packed for the biggest WTM London yet. This year we were joined by over 4,000 exhibitors, with delegates from 184 countries around the world.
“It’s a remarkable turnout and I think it will be an extraordinary World Travel Market meeting. Last year at this time, £2.2 billion worth of travel deals were closed at these shows. This year, you will hear from more than 200 world-class speakers across 70 insightful sessions.”
Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO and board member of the Saudi Tourism Authority, said: “Tourism drives economies more than anything else. The jobs we create are jobs for the youth, for entrepreneurs, for those living in remote areas, for small mom-and-pop shops and for new emerging talent. When we travel, we do so with our best intentions. Our minds are the most open.”
The sessions concluded with a debate in which attendees were asked to vote on whether the cause of complexity was technology or integrated processes in the global aviation industry. The result was roughly
50/50.
Visit Maldives has chosen WTM London to launch “the world’s largest holiday raffle”, with one travel prize per week up for grabs in an effort to attract “new travellers from new markets”.
Shiuree Ibrahim, CEO and Managing Director of Visit Maldives, said: “The Maldives is evolving to meet all travellers’ interests, diversifying into sports tourism, medical tourism and film tourism.”
The destination, which is set to reach a record two million visitors by 2024, also hopes to use 30% renewable energy by 2030. Events will be held next year to mark the 60th anniversary of the country's independence from the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, India introduced its free e-visa initiative, Chalo India, with Mugdha Sinha, director general of the country's Ministry of Tourism, urging those in the Indian diaspora around the world to encourage five non-Indian friends to sign up for the scheme.
The destination welcomed 9.5 million tourists in 2023, of which 920,000 were from the UK, making it its third-largest inbound market. The UK also has a large Indian diaspora population of nearly 2.4 million.
On the other hand, WTM London will prioritize this year practical and positive measures to promote diversity, equity, accessibility, inclusion and intersectionality (DEAI) in the travel sector.
On opening day, a dedicated DEAI summit was held in the Purple Theatre. The theme was “From Commitment to Action,” and scheduled sessions focused on steps travel and tourism stakeholders can take today to deliver on their promises to create a truly inclusive industry for travel companies, their teams, and their customers.
The sessions were hosted and moderated by WTM’s new DEAI advisor, Uwern Jong (he/him). Uwern has won a variety of prestigious press and marketing awards for his advocacy for diversity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging in the travel industry.
This year's World Travel Market London will bring in around £200m to the London economy in just one week
The show has reported a 7% growth in exhibitor numbers this year, with more than 4,000 tourism boards, hoteliers, transport services, technology brands, associations and experiences from around the world coming together in the Excel London halls for three days of business. It is estimated that more than £2.2bn worth of business deals will be signed at the event this year.
According to VisitBritain data, international delegates visiting the UK to attend a trade show spend an average of £352 per day, which amounts to a total spend of £71,215,218 per visitor. A recent report by Deloitte suggests that for every £1,000 spent, a further £1,800 is generated in gross direct tourism value, representing an impressive £200m injection from WTM London into the economy.
Source: WTM London.