The tourism industries in Greece, Egypt and Turkey could be getting back on track, according to the WTM Industry Report 2016 released today (Monday 7 November) at World Travel Market London.

More than 2,000 buyers and exhibitors were polled for the report, with half the global sample saying they are planning to have conversations with suppliers from Egypt, Greece or Turkey.

The three destinations’ tourism industries have been hit hard by a combination of political uncertainty and terrorist attacks over the past few years, prompting many travel companies to withdraw from or severely limit their presence.

However, this could be about to change, with 37% of the total sample looking to talk to Greek businesses, 29% looking to talk to Turkish suppliers and 17% heading toward the Egypt stands.

And it appears as if many buyers have already decided that they are willing to sign on the dotted line, with eight out of ten expecting to confirm deals. Eight out of ten buyers having talks with Turkish, Greek and Egyptian exhibitors plan on signing contracts (80%, 80% and 78% respectively).

Tunisia is another destination whose tourism industry has been hit, and its recovery is taking longer to materialise but there are early signs of a shift in sentiment. While only 8% of the sample are looking to talk to representatives, more than 70% of those are expecting to sign a deal.

World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “After a difficult couple of years, the signs are that Egypt, Greece and Turkey are back on the agenda, while Tunisia is starting to turn the corner.

“The WTM Industry Report talks to people who have the power to sign deals and the high proportion of potential buyers interested in having conversations with suppliers from these destinations is a great positive.”

WTM London is the event where the travel and tourism industry conducts its business deals. Buyers from the WTM Buyers’ Club have a combined purchasing responsibility of $22.6 billion (£15.8bn) and sign deals at the event worth $3.6 billion (£2.5bn). The annual gathering of 50,000 senior travel industry professionals takes place at ExCeL – London from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 November 2016.

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World Travel Market London

WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.

Almost 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 London.

WTM London is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM London 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

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 more than 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together more than 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.