With visitors from all over the globe, the event brought together major operators, hotels and destinations from all five continents with a great deal of interaction
Latin America’s principal B2B tourism and travel event ends the first day on a high note. There were about 600 exhibitors from all five continents, including hotels, tour operators, cruise operators and destinations, along with other segments related to leisure and business tourism.
The corridors full of visitors and brand activations organized by exhibitors from all over the world reinforced the success of the first day of the 6th edition of WTM Latin America. Among the Brazilian hosts, there was the resort of Porto de Galinhas, in the State of Pernambuco, which launched the project “A dive in Porto de Galinhas”. By means of an inflatable dome visitors could get a 360º experience of this destination, which is in such great demand both by Brazilian tourist as well as tourists from abroad. After the event, the project will go on a road show through Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Another new feature came straight from Ecuador, a destination that returned to WTM Latin America in 2018 and which organized tasting sessions of typical local dishes at its stand. Among the delicacies were ‘locro de papa’ (a potato and corn soup) prawn ceviche, ’empanadas verdes’ (green banana pasties), three-milk dessert as well as tuna tarts. In addition to the regional gastronomy, the country put on a toquilla straw hat show (an authentic Ecuadorian event) and a hand-painted toquilla sombreros show.
Peru, which is another of the Latin American destinations taking part in the event, organized a variety of brand activations related to gastronomy, nautical sports, nature and archaeology. While Chile organized tastings of the cocktail ‘pisco sour’ and of the wines from the Colchagua and Cachapoal Valleys.
At Turkey’s stand, there was a presentation of Ebru art, which is a traditional Turkish technique. The Turkish artist Garip Ay recreates works by famous artists, such as Van Gogh, with original paintings using the technique in black water.
It is in this atmosphere that the event is even more colourful, with stands for every type of taste – also including Asian and Brazilian cuisines, as well as interactions for those who are fascinated by the culture and history of the Middle East.
For those who enjoy North American attractions, European luxury or the idyllic islands and beaches of Brazil, got a taste of these new features today at the event. This is the tone that can be found in every corner of the Blue and White pavilions set by the main B2B travel event for the next two days, April 4th and April 5th.
Schedule and content
The first day began with the presence of officials at the opening ceremony, where the executives Luciane Leite, WTM Latin America’s director, Fernando Fischer, Reed Exhibition Alcantara Machado’s CEO and Charlie Cracknell, Reed Travel Exhibitions’ Senior Director, commented on the event’s new features and regarding the sector’s importance for the market’s partners.
With a number of spaces for interaction, business rounds and debates, Corporate Travel Speed Networking was highlighted and praised by travel managers. Don Williams, from Capemor Apartments, UK, stressed WTM Latin America’s importance for organizing these initial contacts. “Our objective is to rapidly expand the corporate travel area. Corporate Travel Speed Networking has opened up a number of opportunities in this context and we have made excellent contacts with major multinational companies and other Latin American players in this segment. ”
For those who are looking for content and innovation, the event promoted a schedule full of conferences and seminars. The intense agenda regarding the travel market and its interfaces resulted in a presentation on the topic “Intelligence in Adversity” at the Inspire Theatre, which was given by the ultramarathoner and first South American to run the world’s four most extreme deserts in the space of 10 months, Carlos Dias.
After this it was the turn of Marília Borges, a research analyst at Euromonitor International, who gave a talk about changes in consumer habits. Marília commented on the importance of events such as WTM Latin America: “meetings such as these are essential to the exchange of ideas and definitions of strategies among the large companies in Latin America’s tourism segment,” declared Marília.
On the subject of “Tourism in the Age of Assistance”, Google provided a talk given by Aline Prado, the company’s Marketing Insights Leader. By means of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the Google’s department focused on research in Brazil traces the profile of consumer behaviour in a country where there are 235 million smartphones in use. Hence the need for a highly qualified data source.
The final conference given in this space was focused on the “Future of the Tourism Industry” and was presented by Global Omnibees’ COO, Paulo Salvador. The executive talked about the challenges for the industry in an era of liquid changes and extreme competition. “The challenge is precisely in finding a balance,” stressed Salvador.
In addition the Travel Tech Theatre’s conferences were attended by large audiences during the first day of the event. One of the first conferences focused on the topic of technological trends for events and their applications, and was presented by Lilian Ronche, from Class Produções. The executive talked about the technological trends to be found at events such as WTM Latin America: “the purpose of these conferences is to highlight technology’s power. Since our focus is on events, this is the perfect place not just for us, but for all of those who share the new technologies and talks about market trends in this sense”, she concluded.
The last item on the Travel Tech Theatre’s agenda explored the universe of travel blogs and the possible partnerships that exist in this environment, with the blogger Túlio Bragança, who is a member of the Brazilian Travel Blog Association (ABBV).
WTM Latin America 2018
Venue: Expo Center Norte, Rua José Bernardino Pinto, 333, V. Guilherme – São Paulo
Date/Time: April 3rd to April 5th (April 3rd and 4th, from 12.00 to 8.00 p.m., and April 5th, from 12.00 to 6.00 p.m.)
Website: latinamerica.wtm.com