British holidaymakers would rather sit next to Boris Johnson than Theresa May on a flight, reveals World Travel Market London research released today (Monday 7 November) at the event.
Boris Johnson, or BoJo to his friends, was one of the key protagonists for the Leave campaign during the EU membership referendum campaign and is now the UK Foreign Secretary. He has proved a controversial figure, hitting the headlines for an alleged u-turn on his thoughts about Brexit.
In comparison, Theresa May, who became Prime Minister after David Cameron resigned this September, is seen as “a safe pair of hands”.
So perhaps it is purely on entertainment value terms that BoJo gets the nod from 23% of respondents compared with the PM who gets 20%.
In US election week, Hillary Clinton fares relatively well, chosen by 17% of the sample as the person with whom they would like to make small talk at 30,000 feet. Nigel Farage will be disappointed that a foreign female is more popular than he is, with the on-off-on leader of UKIP only polling 13%.
The fifth choice was businessman, reality TV star and presidential candidate Donald Trump, who barely registers any interest from Brits with only 3% choosing him as their travelling companion.
World Travel Market London, Senior Director, Simon Press, said: “Whatever one thinks of his politics, Boris Johnson comes across as an affable type who would be fun to talk to on a flight, while for those interested in a more serious conversation Theresa May or Hillary Clinton get the nod.”
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World Travel Market London
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM London.
WTM London is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM London will generate around £2.5 billion of travel industry contracts.
WTM London is part of Reed Travel Exhibition’s World Travel Market events, which also includes Arabian Travel Market, World Travel Market Latin America and World Travel Market Africa. www.wtmworld.com
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RTE, which organises more than 22 events around the world, includes three divisions; World Travel Market, IBTM Events and International Luxury Travel Market.
RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions.
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Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with more than 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together more than seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.