WTM London 2019, which takes place between Monday 4 – Wednesday 6 November, is poised to be the most successful event yet with more Ideas Arriving at WTM London than ever before.
This year, WTM London turns 40 and 50,000 senior travel professionals, 9,000 buyers, 5,000 exhibitors and 3,000 members of the media, from over 180 countries are invited to join in with the celebrations.
And, as a special gift to delegates, organisers have simplified the online registration process, upgraded its popular meetings tool, and added new technology to help capture leads. This all means exhibitors and visitors can get the most out of their time and investment during the three days of WTM London.
Around one million business meetings take place at WTM London, all generating ideas that will fuel the future of the travel and the tourism industry.
The Regional Inspiration Zones will continue to be the focal areas of each section on the show floor. They will host dedicated regional content and networking events, helping all participants generate a huge number of new ideas, which they will be able to take back to their business and implement.
WTM London’s Ideas Arrive Here concept – introduced in 2018 – has once again been woven into the entire 2019 programme, with three key themes: Innovative Perspectives, New Possibilities and Inspiring Fresh Thinking. These concepts will be stimulated and enforced by the long list of headline speakers already signed up and due to be announced soon who are from companies and organisations like Virgin, Thomas Cook, Hilton and UNWTO.
Monday 4 November will remain an exhibitor invite-only day, allowing exhibitors to conduct business meetings with key suppliers. The event will kick off with the WTM Speed Networking Event at 9am, before the exhibition floor opens at 10am.
Tuesday 5 November will host the UNWTO & WTM Ministers’ Summit, with the day also starting with a Speed Networking session with buyers split by the sector they purchase in. Later that evening, WTM London will present the International Travel & Tourism Awards for a second year at brand new London venue, Magazine. The Awards will recognise, reward and celebrate the best in the global travel industry. Tickets can be purchased at https://awards.wtm.com/.
Wednesday 6 November will host World Responsible Tourism Day – the largest day of responsible tourism action in the world.
WTM London’s 40th anniversary will be celebrated through a collection of parties on the last day of the show. WTM Festivals will be hosted by exhibitors and partners where they will be showcasing their culture, music and cuisine.
Throughout the three days, WTM’s exciting new video concept, #WTMStories, gives viewers an insight into travel trends as seen through the eyes of key industry figures and consumers. In another first, networking opportunities at senior level have been upgraded, with the introduction of an invitation-only Leaders’ Lunch on day one.
Travel Forward, the travel technology event co-located with WTM London, is back for a second year with a conference, exhibition and Startup Showcase programme to unlock new opportunities in the face of increasing competition. This year Hackathon, an event where participants race to solve computer and software problems, will be introduced over the three days.
As the title of Travel Forward 2019 – From Disruption to Delivery: Transforming Travel with Technology suggests, the conference delivers insights to senior decision-makers as they set strategy and plan for the future.
For both events, new technology has been utilised to create a better onsite experience for exhibitors and buyers at WTM London and Travel Forward, so they can pre-arrange meetings and get the most out of their time at the show.
The popular My Event tool has been replaced with a far superior system, called Connect Me, which has better search functionality and a better operating algorithm, which means media, buyers and exhibitors will receive targeted recommendations matched to their business needs.
Meanwhile, Emperia is a free app allowing exhibitors to scan stand visitors’ badges to capture leads and better understand who visits their stand. The leads are then emailed every day to the exhibitor contact so they have this information at their fingertips.
To celebrate the importance of the growing global tourism sector, the seven days surrounding WTM London – November 1 and November 7 – have been named London Travel Week.
London Travel Week brings together these key industry events and creates the largest festival supporting the global travel and tourism industry in the world. There are countless industry events taking place all over London, which combine to create a world-class travel-hub.
WTM London, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “WTM London continues to improve every year, with 2019 poised to be the most successful yet. As well as celebrating 40 years, there are many new initiatives for the 2019 event, all designed to help facilitate ideas creation in the travel and tourism industry.
“Furthermore, we anticipate more than £3.5 billion worth of business will be agreed due to this year’s event between more than 5,000 exhibitors and more than 10,000 senior industry buyers.”
Travel Forward, Event Manager, Richard Gayle, added: “Travel Forward will once again inspire the travel and hospitality industry with the next generation of technology. We are delighted with the response we have had going into our second year. The conference programme includes senior executives from leading technology companies including Google, Virgin Hyperloop One, Expedia, KLM, Heathrow Express, Facebook, Accenture and Edwardian Hotels.
To register for WTM London visit: http://london.wtm.com/register
To register for Travel Forward visit: http://travelforward.wtm.com/register