Influential movers and shakers in the travel industry will be at World Travel Market London 2015 – the leading global event for the travel industry – to debate key issues affecting the trade.
There will be two ‘World Travel Leaders’ sessions, along with a ceremony to present the World Travel Leaders Awards to individuals and organisations that have contributed the most to the global travel and tourism industry over the lifetime of WTM.
The first WTM World Travel Leaders session is entitled ‘Asia – Inbound and Outbound Travel – Growing Globally’, sponsored by Korean Tourism Organisation, and will look at the new Asian powerhouses of the global leisure travel market.
Moderated by respected global strategic advisor Anita Mendiratta – Founder and Managing Director at Cachet Consulting – the panel debate will discuss crucial issues driving this growth, now and in the future, and how to take advantage of the expansion.
The panellists will be Tran Trong Kien, Chairman and General Director, Thien Minh Group (Buffalo Tours); Mario Hardy, Chief Executive, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA); Peter Kerkar, Group Chief Executive, Cox & Kings; and Wendy Wu, Founder and Chief Executive, Wendy Wu Tours.
The debate will be followed by the WTM World Travel Leaders Awards, which give WTM’s Official Media Partners – which represent key travel industry media around the world – an excellent platform to congratulate and recognise those companies and individuals that have made significant contributions to travel and tourism in their region or sector.
Three nominations from each of WTM’s media partners were judged in September by a panel of three, consisting of an independent body, a representative of WTM and the relevant media partner.
The second World Travel Leaders debate is entitled ‘UK Inbound and Domestic Travel – Breaking Records’ and will be moderated by Deirdre Wells, Chief Executive, UKInbound.
Drawn from successful companies in the sector, the panellists will study why the UK has seen significant growth and record tourist numbers over recent years, and how to benefit from future expansion.
Speakers will be Terry Williamson, Chief Executive, JacTravel; Denis Wormwell, Chief Executive, Shearings Holidays, Kyle Haughton, Managing Director, City Cruises and Neil Davies, Head of Travel Trade, Bourne Leisure.
WTM London, Conference Manger, Charlotte Sutton, said: “Only World Travel Market London can attract such a list of high-calibre speakers, and the audience at both sessions will be able to hear directly from travel’s big guns – leading entrepreneurs, powerful corporate figures and industry figureheads.
“Nowhere else can you listen to so many experts and leaders in their fields, and gain vital insights that can help boost your own business.”
The first WTM World Travel Leaders debate and WTM World Travel Leaders Awards will take place on 3 November from 2.30-4pm on the WTM Global Stage.
The second World Travel Leaders debate will be on 4 November, from 3.30pm to 4.30pm in South Gallery 13 & 14.
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About World Travel Market London
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 51,500 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.
WTM London, now in its 36th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM 2014 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
World Travel Market Events
World Travel Market is comprised of the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
New events for 2016 are WTM connect Asia and WTM connect China, which join WTM connect Ski and International Golf Travel Market. These unique one-to-one events are targeted at leisure and niche travel markets, allowing exhibitors to exclusively meet with elite hosted buyers.
The World Travel Market events are attended by the global travel and tourism industry’s senior executives to conduct business deals and discover the latest research, insight and opinion.
In 2014, the World Travel Market events facilitated around $7 billion in industry deals from negotiations between the more than 15,000 buyers, 9,500 exhibitors (1,500 main stand holders and 8,000 stand sharers) in attendance of its four events.
WTM is part of Reed travel Exhibitions, the leading events organizer in the travel industry, and is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions.
Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry. Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
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.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together over 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.