The initiative begins on Monday 11th May with virtual sessions discussing how, when and where the UK travel market is likely to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, and how destinations and travel providers can best prepare to adapt to new consumer demands and emerging opportunities
WTM London is supporting an exciting initiative to enable travel professionals to keep up to date on developments, carry on networking and boost their skills during the Covid-19 pandemic – in preparation for when the world is ready to travel again.
The week-long TTG Digital Destinations Festival 2020 is organised by the UK’s major travel industry publication, TTG Media, in association with WTM. It will take place online between 11-15 May.
The festival will provide travel professionals with the tools and insight to sell a wider range of destinations to their customers through live destination masterclasses, group speed networking sessions, a virtual quiz and cultural workshops.
Attendees can discover the USPs of different destinations to enable them to sell regions better when the time comes; learn more about different cultures and experience the tours themselves; connect and interact with tourist boards and other travel agents as well as win prizes in a passport-style competition.
Among destinations taking part are Tourism Queensland, Brand USA, Gran Canaria, Fiji, Florida Keys & Key West, Vienna, Abu Dhabi, Costa Rica, Adelaide South Australia, Malta, Nova Scotia, Riviera Nayarit and Thailand. The virtual audience will be made up of tour operators, tech companies, PR agencies, tourist boards and travel agents from around the world.
Sessions will include a presentation of exclusive outbound market insight by travel analytics specialist, ForwardKeys, analysing the freshest available data on emerging trends, such as the current level of flight bookings, key routes, the most popular flight searches and the split between business and economy.
A panel discussion with representatives of ANTOR (the Association of National Tourist Offices & Representatives) and AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators) will consider when and where British travellers might begin travelling first, and how destinations are preparing to welcome tourists back as the world adjusts to the realities of living with coronavirus.
A final panel debate will see key players Der Touristik UK, dnata Travel Europe and Advantage Travel Partnership share where they are seeing green shoots within new bookings, including popular destinations and which client demographics are coming back strongest.
TTG Media CEO Daniel Pearce said: “TTG Media is doing all it can to support the travel industry through the current crisis. During extensive audience research, our subscribers told us that it’s still important to gain new product knowledge and to be inspired during this difficult time, ready for the upturn.”
TTG Media group editor Pippa Jacks added: “We know many travel professionals are looking to maximise their time at home or on furlough to further their destination expertise. Our new, week-long virtual programme will inspire and inform travel professionals on the best ways to sell and up-sell a wide range of destinations, so they can be in the best possible position for business success as we emerge from the current crisis.”
WTM London Senior Exhibition Director, Simon Press said: “We at WTM London are very excited to be associating with the TTG Digital Destinations Festival 2020.
“This is a massive opportunity for travel professionals to pull together by learning from travel experts the best ways to emerge from the current crisis.
“We know the coming months won’t be easy for the sector. However, this free five-day programme of events and training sessions is designed to inspire, inform and leverage the travel industry.
“The year 2020 has proved to be a year of learning and collaboration, and we are proud of being involved in such a great project. Determination and passion will play a part in helping to shape the future and restoring consumer confidence.
“At WTM London, we aim always to be supporting the industry by sharing and collaborating with useful and constructive programmes such as the TTG Digital Destinations Festival 2020.”
Find out more, and register, here: https://www.ttgmedia.com/digital-destinations-festival
#IdeasArriveHere #TogetherWeStand #OneTravelIndustry #RoadToRecovery #TravelIndustry #EuropeanTourism #SaveTourism #TogetherInTravel #NeverStandStill #BeThereFirst
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises nine leading travel events across four continents, generating more than $7.5 billion of industry deals. The events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Around 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating over £3.71 billion in travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/
Next event: Monday 2nd to Wednesday 4th November 2020 – London #IdeasArriveHere
Travel Forward London is the leading travel technology event, co-located with WTM London. Travel Forward is renowned for showcasing the next-generation technologies for the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Over 19,000 travel officials and 150+ innovative solution providers attend for 3 days of cutting-edge insights, open debate and unrivalled networking opportunities. The combination of a 2-day conference, interactive exhibition and Startup showcase makes Travel Forward truly unique. http://travelforward.wtm.com/
Next event: Monday 2nd to Wednesday 4th November 2020 – London #NeverStandStill
BorderlessLive is the festival where content creators, brands and the travel community join each other to learn, collaborate, create, inspire and be inspired. This one-of-a-kind event is open to all who have a keen interest in social media, travel, lifestyle, hospitality, tourism and the future of digital influencer marketing. http://www.borderlesslive.com/
Next event: Friday 11th September to Saturday 12th September 2020 – Tobacco Dock, London
London Travel Week, brought to you by WTM London, is the one-stop-shop for event hosts and visitors to be able to shape the next 12 months of travel together. The festival of events supports the global travel and tourism industry through capturing invaluable news and enhancing industry connections. https://londontravelweek.wtm.com/.
Next event: Friday 30th October to Thursday 6th November 2020
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 27th year, continues to be the focal point for the Middle East’s resilient and ever-changing travel and tourism landscape and prides itself on being the hub of all travel and tourism ideas – providing a platform to discuss insights on the ever-changing industry, share innovations and unlock endless business opportunities. While the live show has been postponed to 16-19 May 2021, ATM will keep the industry connected by running an ATM Virtual Event from 1-3 June 2020 featuring webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, one-on-one meetings, plus so much more – keeping the conversations going and delivering new connections and business opportunities online. www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.
Next events: ATM Virtual Event: Monday 1st to Wednesday 3rd June 2020
Live ATM: Sunday 16th to Wednesday 19th May 2021 – Dubai #IdeasArriveHere
WTM Latin America attracts around 19,000 participants – 11,586 unique. The trade show, which takes place in São Paulo, has a worldwide audience that meets to establish the direction of the travel industry. The event is recognised for attracting a high level of professionals from the segment, including buyers and travel agents. It also offers programmes with qualified content and plenty of opportunities for networking and generating business that is relevant to the travel industry http://latinamerica.wtm.com/.
Next event: 20 – 22 October 2020 – Expo Center Norte, São Paulo
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. More than 6,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/.
Next event: 2021 – Cape Town
Reed Exhibitions is a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants.
Our events, organized by 35 global offices, leverage industry expertise, large data sets and technology to enable our customers to generate billions of dollars of revenues for the economic development of local markets and national economies around the world. Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.reedexhibitions.com
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 20 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, LGBTQ+ travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf and spa travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions. https://www.reedtravelexhibitions.com/
More information, please contact:
Natalia Hartmann – WTM Portfolio Press & PR Executive
E: natalia.hartmann@reedexpo.co.uk
T: +44 (0)20 8439 5535/ M: +44 (0)7775 036 858