The most imaginative and eye-catching stands at WTM London have been announced, with Moscow, Brazil, Cape Town and Indonesia among the winners.
A panel of three expert independent judges – Russell Smith, Managing Director, Intuitive Design; Kim Thomson, Publishing Director, Travel & Tourism News Middle East (TTN); and Bill Richards, senior partner, Tourism Research & Marketing – revealed the winners in the five categories at the WTM London 2019 Best Stand Awards.
The winner of the ‘Best Stand Design’ award was Moscow City Tourism Committee (EU1950), which was praised for its “bright colourful use of glass panels and use of virtual reality”.
The category was closely fought with the Canary Islands (EU600) being highly commended for its design, including a suspended ceiling connecting the stand and the use of “creative lighting”.
While France (EU300) was also commended in the category for its recreation of a cobbled street, which made the judges “feel like you are in France”.
The ‘Best Stand for Doing Business’ has been won by the Brazilian Tourism Board (LA250) for its stand’s “clean and sleek design”, combined with a “good mixture of networking options” including open space “pods” and private meeting rooms.
City of Cape Town (AF282) has won the ‘Best New Stand’ category for its “good use of visuals and technology”, including virtual reality. The judges also felt Cape Town had been “very creative in the use of space” which had “made the most out of a small stand”.
Indonesia – The Ministry of Tourism (AS1000) was the winner in the ‘Best Stand Feature’ category for its large ship located in the centre of the stand, alongside a “great presentation of their culture through traditional clothing and crafts”.
The ‘Best Stand in Travel Forward’, looked solely at the travel technology event co-located with WTM London, was won for a second year by Mews Systems (TT220).
Mews Systems’ stand was praised for its “contemporary design” with the innovative use of ultraviolet lighting, as well as displays of plants to illustrate growth of the company and the show. Judges said the stand was “visually appealing and stood out from the others.”
Also highly commended in the Travel Forward category was Pegasus (TT205) with a stand that won praise from judges for its “contemporary design and use of space”.
The People’s Choice Award for the best stand at WTM London was won by Moscow City Tourism Committee, which received the most likes, shares and comments of the five category winners on Twitter and Facebook. Moscow was presented with the award at WTM London on Wednesday (November 6).