As the selfie stick ban goes global within major tourist attractions and destinations, four out of ten snap happy UK holidaymakers will be left feeling disappointed according to the World Travel Market 2015 Industry Report, unveiled at World Travel Market London – the leading global event for the travel industry.
More than 1,000 UK holidaymakers and 2,050 industry executives were quizzed for the report, unveiled today (Monday 2 November), highlighting 40% of holidaymakers were keen selfie takers, admitting to taking and sharing pictures of themselves on holiday and sharing on social media platforms whilst away.
The camera was also seen as the most essential device for Brits to take away with them on holiday, ranking high above tablets and laptops.
Leading hotel chains were quick to take advantage of this selfie phenomenon last year, a trend outlined in the WTM 2014 Global Trends Report in association with Euromonitor International.
“Major brands like Marriott and Kimpton Hotels are rewarding guests who used selfies or “braggies” to share their experiences on social media. Hotels began to actively encourage the use of selfies by linking social media activity with their rewards scheme” explained Caroline Bremner, Head of Travel and Tourism Research, Euromonitor International.
However this year theme parks, music festivals, museums and even whole countries feel differently and have now banned the popular selfie stick or ‘selfish stick’ due to safety hazards, and the overall travel industry tends to agree. Almost 65% of the industry who were polled by WTM London feels the use of Wi-Fi and the taking of selfies should be more closely monitored at tourism hotspots. But what will this mean for the selfie loving nation?
A number of alternative options to the selfie stick have recently been recognised including tour operators, such as El Camino Travel, who are now providing a professional photographer to accompany tourists on their trips, capturing all the best moments and allowing tourists to share the pictures on their social media platforms the following day.
Other alternatives identified include the wide angle selfie apps which are available to download on smartphones; the smartphone accessory lens which is placed over the lens of the smartphone camera expanding the camera view; and the smartphone-controlled Bluetooth camera which sticks to almost any surface, making it hands free to get the desired angle.
WTM London, Senior Director, Simon Press, commented: “The selfie phenomenon has really taken off in the UK, with holidaymakers wanting to instantly share their holiday highlights with friends and family back home via social media.
“With the selfie stick ban in place at some major tourist attractions, there will be a need for new, safer and less obstructing technology devices to come on to the market which allow tourists to continue with their photo sharing.
“The selfie is something which UK holidaymakers are extremely familiar with and don’t want to give up anytime soon, however tourists need to be respectful of how, when and where they do decide to take them.”
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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 World 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.