Flanders and Switzerland are among the exhibitors honoured with awards for their stands at World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry.
The Best Stand Awards were judged by an expert panel: Jamie Wallis, Editor, Exhibition News & Engage Magazine; Russell Smith, Director, Intuitive Design; Bill Richards, Partner, TRAM Research and Beryl Preuschmann, Managing Director, Triporganiser.net.
Flanders (EM14-18) won the award for Best Stand Design, which impressed the judges for the way it stood out from the crowd and the fact it could clearly be seen and identified from far away. Judge Beryl Preuschmann said: “The Flanders stand was slick – a great use of space with cool props that showcased the destination well.”
The honour of the Best Stand for Doing Business went to Switzerland Tourism (EM800), which was praised for its ability to appear accessible, yet clearly open for business, with three different areas to meet – bar stool, easy sitting area and booths for private conversations. Judge Beryl Preuschmann said: “You feel as though are actually doing business in Switzerland. It was fantastically well thought out.”
Ecuadorian Tours (LA580) scooped the award for the Best Stand Feature, thanks to its engaging use of colour, smell and taste to bring the stand to life, including a rainbow or roses, a glasshouse full of orchids and welcoming servings of chocolate. Judge Beryl Preuschmann said: “The stand really captured Ecuador’s cultural characteristics. It was very engaging and visitors would want to spend a lot of time on the stand.”
The Best Stand Personnel award was given to Zolv (TT520). Judges were impressed by the proactive team, which approached them and asked if they would like a demonstration of their product. Judge Beryl Preuschmann said: “The team was very informative and did an excellent presentation, explaining how the product worked in simple terms. They were very enthusiastic.” The award for the Most Innovative Stand within the Travel Tech Show @ WTM was given to Geosho Ltd (TT401). Judge Beryl Preuschmann said: “We were impressed with how
the exhibitor managed to stand out by making excellent use of a small space on a low budget.”
Deborah Dewe, Head of Sales for the WTM Portfolio, said: “Every year WTM exhibitors really go to town making sure their stands wow visitors and generate the maximum attention. Our judges had a difficult task as there were so many amazing stands and enthusiastic teams that made the shortlist.
“Congratulations to the winners who have embraced the essence of WTM by going the extra mile to welcome potential business partners from all over the globe.”
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, 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.
More than 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.
WTM, now in its 35th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.
WTM 2013 generated more than £2 billion of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.
WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a other portfolio’s of travel industry events including IBTM Events, the world’s leading showcases for the meetings and events industry and International Luxury Travel Market events.
In 2013, RE held more than 500 events in 40 countries bringing together more than six million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
Reed Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 21 international events in 14 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.