WTM® Blog

Gain insight about trends, challenges and innovation across various tourism sectors from our industry leaders, on a regular basis.

Join the conversation by commenting on posts, or contact the Editor to enquire about being featured in one of our guest blog spots.

June 14, 2017August 18, 2020

Forget social media – why quality blog content is the most valuable

Blog, Blogging, marketing, Social Media

It’s easy as a blogger to find yourself chasing your own tail scrambling to keep up with the latest social media platform and focusing on your follower numbers. Amongst all ... Read more

June 13, 2017September 18, 2017

Hotels, the SDGs and transparent reporting

Carbon & Water, Certification, Responsible Tourism, Video

At the heart of Responsible Tourism are commitments to transparency and accountability. Responsible Tourism is about what people do, individually and collectively in businesses, to move towards sustainability. It is ... Read more

June 9, 2017October 4, 2017

The British Airways lesson

Blog, Technology

Many opinions have been written about the technology issue that affected BA and the way in which the airline handled the situation. It must be one of the worst PR ... Read more

June 7, 2017October 4, 2017

Defining the luxury traveller of today

Blog, Luxury

As luxury travellers’ needs keep evolving, it gets more and more complex to define who they are and what they really want. It’s no longer just about targeting who likes ... Read more

June 6, 2017September 18, 2017

Pandora’s Paradox: social media, tourism and FOMO

Carbon & Water, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing, Social Media

Last week, a village in Switzerland got loads of press coverage for banning tourists from taking photos of its scenery and sharing them on social media. According to the local ... Read more

May 31, 2017September 18, 2017

Certification: what comes next?

Carbon & Water, Certification, Responsible Tourism

The purpose of consumer facing certification is presumably to assure the guest or client that the hotel they are planning to stay in, or the operator they plan to travel ... Read more

May 25, 2017May 30, 2017

Top trends affecting the golf travel industry

Blog

In preparation for the 20th edition of IGTM this year, the team wanted to find out more about the industry and in particular the challenges and opportunities that are affecting ... Read more

May 24, 2017October 4, 2017

Interview with Coxless Crew rower about female resilience, leadership and strength

Women in Travel

This month I am delighted to share an exclusive heart-to-heart interview with Natalia Cohen, who is one of 6 of the only all female crew to have rowed across the ... Read more

May 22, 2017September 18, 2017

Bringing Biodiversity back home – lessons from the graveyard

Carbon & Water, Development, Responsible Tourism

Today is the UN’s International Day for Biodiversity. This year being the UN’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, the theme is ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism’. Last Sunday, I ... Read more

May 19, 2017October 4, 2017

SEO Tactics for the Tourism Industry

Technology

Search Engine Optimisation – or SEO as it’s more commonly known – is one of the most important digital marketing fundamentals to get right. Why? Because the majority of online ... Read more

May 15, 2017October 4, 2017

Man vs. machine – no contest

Technology

A week or so ago I was chairing this year’s Eyefortravel Europe conference. All of the important subjects of the day were discussed, including mobile, data, personalisation, disruptive technology, artificial ... Read more

May 10, 2017May 15, 2017

WTM Connect Asia – Meet The Buyers

Blog, Destinations

In preparation for WTM Connect Asia we asked some of the buyers to share with us what their company does in 10 words, the challenges they are seeing in the ... Read more

May 9, 2017September 18, 2017

Embracing timeshare to tackle tourism issues

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

Timeshare is almost a dirty word in tourism today. But its structure offers much for those trying to make the industry more sustainable. It can deepen connections between guests and ... Read more

May 4, 2017May 24, 2017

The faith that’s driving tourism

Destinations

The biggest statue in the Catholic world is in Rio Grande do Norte. The vocation that Santa Cruz has for religious tourism comes from when it was first founded and ... Read more

May 2, 2017September 12, 2017

WTM Responsible Tourism Awards 2017

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy, Video

For many years the industry has asserted its economic and social importance. The WTTC suggests that travel & tourism is 10.2% of world GDP and that the sector employs 292 million ... Read more

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017

Where are all the female airline pilots?

Women in Travel

Today’s guest blogger is Sarah Hanan Partner at executive recruitment firm Dunleavy White. Sarah discusses the challenging career context for women in aviation and in particular women pilots. Make sure ... Read more

April 27, 2017May 15, 2017

#ATMDubai – The Final Day!

Blog

The fourth and final day of #ATMDubai did not disappoint. The halls were once again packed with industry professionals looking to unlock business potential within the Middle East. Meanwhile, there ... Read more

April 27, 2017June 7, 2017

Is isolation the next big thing in luxury travel?

Blog, Luxury

Through the years, there have been many attempts to define what luxury is. What we can all agree on is that luxury is subjective, personal, and ever changing. Last month, ... Read more

April 26, 2017May 15, 2017

#ATMDubai Day 3 – The Highlights

Blog

Day three at #ATMDubai continued the theme; quality and quantity of exhibitors, visitors and buyers, plus another packed day of education across the ATM Event Programme. If you haven’t joined ... Read more

April 25, 2017September 18, 2017

New European student travel scheme offers a vision of tourism’s future

Carbon & Water, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

If I was asked to sum up the challenge facing tourism in one sentence, I would say something like the following: Can the travel industry of the future be environmentally ... Read more

April 25, 2017May 15, 2017

#ATMDubai Day Two – What did you miss?

Blog

Day two at #ATMDubai kicked off with an in-depth look at cruise tourism. With Dubai alone targeting one million cruise tourists by 2020, our cruise experts were on hand to ... Read more

April 24, 2017May 15, 2017

#ATMDubai Day 1 – The best bits!

Blog

At 1pm today Arabian Travel Market opened its doors. Tourism professionals from around the world filled the halls, all here to take advantage of this unique opportunity to unlock business potential ... Read more

April 21, 2017September 13, 2017

Responsible Tourism and the African Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM Africa

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

The first Responsible Tourism panel on market access for SMEs and emerging entrepreneurs drew an audience of 90 to hear Enver Mally – originally an SME and now part of ... Read more

April 19, 2017April 19, 2017

Revenue management vs school holidays

Technology

A news story in the UK press ran a couple of weeks ago about Term-time holidays: Supreme Court rules father must pay fine for taking daughter out of school. John ... Read more

April 19, 2017April 19, 2017

La Perle: how a resident show can boost Dubai’s economy

Blog

When you mention Dubai to a tourist, it conjures images of the Burj Khalifa, sunny beaches and, of course, a shopping metropolis. Until now, other than a sensational choice of ... Read more

April 11, 2017September 18, 2017

If you’re looking after the environment, you’re looking after your guests. Tell them.

Carbon & Water, Development, Human Rights, Responsible Tourism

Written above a doorway at London’s Horniman Museum is an Einstein quote that reads: ‘The environment is everything except myself.’ When I saw it last week it reminded me of ... Read more

April 4, 2017September 18, 2017

World Travel Market and the Sustainable Development Goals

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy, Video

WTM, supported by the UNWTO, has sought to present examples of good practice to educate, inspire and challenge business and destinations to deliver on sustainability through WTM Responsible Tourism and ... Read more

April 4, 2017May 17, 2017

5 minutes with Ben Stuart, University of St. Andrews

Blog

Ben Stuart, Director, University of St. Andrews tells us more about the University of St. Andrews, what he sees as the biggest challenge facing the golf travel industry at the moment ... Read more

March 31, 2017March 31, 2017

How to improve your blog content without getting distracted by the latest fad

Blogging

These days travel blogging has become a multi-faceted skillset with a valuable range of skills that push beyond simply writing a travel diary on the internet. The importance of good ... Read more

March 31, 2017September 18, 2017

Tourism and Nature A Brazil of Opportunities

Development, Responsible Tourism

by Luiz Del Vigna, ABETA For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Part of it is confined to mega cities ... Read more

March 31, 2017May 24, 2017

The power of the brand through the incentive travel experience

Incentive Travel

by Silvana Torres, AMPRO By definition, incentive travel occurs when a group of people travels to a pre-established destination, in the off-season and with the right to each bring a ... Read more

March 31, 2017May 24, 2017

Why do we need eTourism Conferences?

Events

by Emanuele Mele, IFITT General Secretary Tourism is widely recognized as an important sector for the economic growth of a country. According to UNWTO (http://www2.unwto.org/content/why-tourism; “Current developments and forecasts”; UNWTO), ... Read more

March 30, 2017March 30, 2017

Asian Airline Perspectives at this year’s ATM

Aviation, Blog

I’m looking forward to a lively discussion with our line up of airline leaders from Asia. We are fortunate to have two of them joining us and there’s plenty to ... Read more

March 28, 2017August 10, 2017

Tourism in Saudi Arabia – Huge Opportunities for a Transformation to a New Economy

Hospitality

With The Saudi’s endeavour to attract more foreign visitors in an attempt to open both the economy and the tourism industry to the world, the need to broaden the travel, ... Read more

March 28, 2017September 18, 2017

Tourism will be the future’s most important industry. We aren’t ready.

Carbon & Water, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing, Social Economy

Last weekend I paid for my shopping at a self-service till. I swiped my credit card across the automatic turnstile on the Underground. I streamed a movie from my Netflix ... Read more

March 27, 2017March 28, 2017

The time is right for female tourism entrepreneurship in the MENA region!

Women in Travel

Entrepreneurship is an important yet untapped resource in the MENA region. Even as recently as the 3rd March 2017, an event was held in Brussels with several institutional actors from ... Read more

March 22, 2017March 22, 2017

The Rise and Rise of Luxury Travel Agents

Luxury

When online travel booking sites became the norm for people to book their travels, everybody soon became their own travel agents. For a number of years, we’ve seen the closure ... Read more

March 21, 2017September 18, 2017

Seasonality, Cruises and Overtourism: Coping with Success

Carbon & Water, Development, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism

How does a small archipelago cope with becoming Britain’s most successful cruise destination? In 2011 there were 36,000 cruise passengers, last year there were close to 100,000, projected to hit ... Read more

March 15, 2017September 18, 2017

Why it matters what stories tourism tells to promote destinations

Human Rights, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing, Social Economy

Museums and Heritage Advisor doesn’t sound like a particularly radical or controversy-seeking website. Described as “The ultimate news, product and opinion resource for museum, gallery, cultural and heritage visitor attraction professionals”, ... Read more

March 15, 2017March 15, 2017

Destination Management Organisations vs. Tour Operators

Technology

In the early days of the Internet, we tried to forecast how it would change the way travel was sold. A common prediction was that the Internet would cause travel ... Read more

March 13, 2017March 13, 2017

Why Experiential Travel Is Not Just For Millennials

Blog

Millenials, often known as the smartphone generation as 76% of them own smartphones globally, are often associated with experiential travel. Yet, according to TripBarometer, 2015, 69% of global travellers – of ... Read more

March 8, 2017September 18, 2017

Does tourism really contribute to sustainable development?

Carbon & Water, Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy, Video

The Resolution of the 70th United Nations General Assembly to designate 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development has shone the spotlight on tourism. Tourism will either ... Read more

March 6, 2017May 15, 2017

Travel industry insights with Bert Bakker, Events Travel

Blog, Destinations

Bert Bakker, Operations Manager, Events Travel shares his views on the single biggest challenge facing the travel industry right now, the difference between working in APAC compared to Europe, and what ... Read more

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

International Women’s Day 2017: How the travel industry can embrace #BeBoldForChange

Women in Travel

With International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017 just around the corner, some people may be wondering why it is still so important to celebrate this day, and whether we should be ... Read more

March 1, 2017September 18, 2017

How should men mark International Women’s Day 2017?

Responsible Tourism, Women in Travel

I should start by apologising to all women readers of this blog. You will learn nothing new from it. I doubt I have anything to say that you don’t already ... Read more

February 27, 2017March 6, 2017

SEO Is Changing Completely In 2017. Here’s What You Need To Know

Blog, Technology

Technology is changing the travel industry so quickly and relentlessly that it feels impossible to keep up. How can one company possibly keep up with everything from bluetooth beacons to ... Read more

February 23, 2017May 15, 2017

Unique Food Experiences in Cape Town

Destinations, Food Tourism

Want to sink your teeth into something unique in Cape Town? From healthy, to meaty to over-the-top sweet, here’s our list of what not to miss while in Cape Town. ... Read more

February 23, 2017April 4, 2017

Social highlights of IGTM 2016

Blog

[View the story “Highlights of IGTM 2016” on Storify]

February 23, 2017May 17, 2017

Top Travel, Tourism, & Hospitality Trends For 2017

Blog, Hospitality, Trends

Many travel and hospitality professionals closed it doors on 2016 with a sigh of relief. Low oil prices, dramatic political changes, and unstable geo-political factors have all had a significant ... Read more

February 22, 2017February 23, 2017

5 Luxury Travel Trends for 2017

Blog, Luxury

We may be in the last throes of 2017’s first quarter, but it’s better late than never. For a luxury travel trend article, that is. From the rise of smaller hotels ... Read more

February 21, 2017September 18, 2017

Should destinations focus on yield rather than arrivals?

Development, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing

From a consumer or traveller perspective there are many answers, but it is not difficult for a traveller or holidaymaker to say why they are travelling. It could relate to ... Read more

February 17, 2017May 15, 2017

Morocco Sees Growth in Chinese Visitors Due to Visa Changes

Blog, Destinations

HM King Mohammed VI gave His High instructions to waive visa requirements for Chinese nationals wishing to visit Morocco in June 2016 and the country has seen a positive impact ... Read more

February 14, 2017September 18, 2017

Will Transformative Tourism be more than the latest travel trend?

Development, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing, Trends

Industry leaders are discussing why ‘Transformative Travel’ will be the travel trend of 2017 after Vogue released this article in January. While 2016 was all about experiential travel, this year ... Read more

February 10, 2017February 14, 2017

Robots and Chatbots

Technology

Mentioned in the news over the last few days is the London Science Museum’s Robot exhibition. It will be exploring the 500-year quest to recreate ourselves in mechanistic form. On display will ... Read more

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017

Challenging Times ahead for the Region’s Airlines

Aviation, Blog

The airline business in the Gulf is always interesting, the dynamics shift regularly. As this year’s ATM approaches there are a number of challenges brewing with 2017 looking likely to ... Read more

February 7, 2017May 15, 2017

5 Minutes with Hany Khanagry, My Way Tourism LLC.

Blog, Destinations

In preparation for WTM Connect Asia the team spent 5 minutes getting to know Hany Khanagry from My Way Tourism LLC. Read on to find out his favourite travel destinations, ... Read more

February 7, 2017September 18, 2017

Why take Responsibility for Tourism?

Carbon & Water, Development, Responsible Tourism, Video

The simple answer of course is that we should, because tourism is what we make it. We can make tourism better, we can use tourism to make better places to ... Read more

February 6, 2017May 15, 2017

Travel like a local: Your neighbourhood guide to the Cape Town CBD by night

Destinations

The Cape Town City Centre is where it all happens. A combination of work and play, it is where everything comes together. During the day it is a hub of ... Read more

February 3, 2017May 15, 2017

Top 100 Cities Destination Report

Blog, Destinations

The Top 100 Cities Destination Ranking for 2015 international arrivals. Despite falling arrivals, Hong Kong remained the top city destination in the world for the seventh consecutive year, with 26.7 ... Read more

January 31, 2017September 18, 2017

How should the travel industry respond to Trump’s travel ban?

Human Rights, Responsible Tourism

The rules of engagement are being changed. According to established social media thinking, the lifespan of a tweet is 18 minutes. Yet one of the tweets currently getting the most ... Read more

January 31, 2017February 21, 2017

Disintermediation & Destination Management session review

Responsible Tourism, Video

World Travel Market, Travel Tech Theatre, Monday 7th November 2016 Panel member and CEO of Barcelona Tourism Board, Jordi William Carnes discusses why he attended WTM London and the key ... Read more

January 27, 2017February 21, 2017

Key findings from: Brexit, How Will It Change UK Travel – Inbound and Outbound?

Blog, Video

World Travel Market, WTM Inspire Theatre, Monday 7th November 2016 Missed this session session? Not to worry, Panel member and Head of Travel at Euromonitor, Caroline Bremner takes us through the ... Read more

January 24, 2017September 18, 2017

Creating shared value for local communities – the Kerala Experience

Carbon & Water, Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

In 2008 when the Second International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was held in Kerala there was overt and mounting hostility to the tourism industry in some of the ... Read more

January 23, 2017January 26, 2017

The key talking points from Sir Tim Clark & Willie Walsh’s aviation interview

Aviation

This year’s WTM London Aviation Programme provided a unique opportunity to hear from two prominent leaders of the global aviation sector. John Strickland, Chair and Director of JLS Consulting interviewed ... Read more

January 19, 2017September 18, 2017

Will South Africa eradicate irresponsible captive animal practices in 2017?

Development, Responsible Tourism

‘‘JHB airport to remove cub-petting images from its international arrivals corridor’ read the headline in South Africa’s Citizen newspaper on January 13th. I’ve started 2017 – the UN’s International Year ... Read more

January 18, 2017September 18, 2017

Going beyond trickledown

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

Responsible Tourism is about using tourism to make better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit. 2017 is the UN’s International Year of Sustainable ... Read more

January 16, 2017January 26, 2017

To build or to buy? That is the question

Technology

I have worked with many travel companies across the years, helping them to buy new systems. It is very important to buy the system that will best suit your business. ... Read more

January 4, 2017September 18, 2017

A New Year, anti-globalisation and tourism

Carbon & Water, Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

2016 brought the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump to be the next President of the USA, the full impact of these momentous changes in the government agendas ... Read more

December 23, 2016January 26, 2017

Why Rooster PR is helping the Women in Travel Meetup

Women in Travel

Women make up a high percentage of the travel industry globally – somewhere between 50 and 80 percent; yet, there still seems to be a feeling that many women struggle ... Read more

December 22, 2016September 18, 2017

Reality has to be on tourism’s bucket list for 2017

Development, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism

About six months ago my plans to write about a press trip to Jordan were disrupted by the Brexit vote, and I had to write about that instead. Today, my ... Read more

December 21, 2016January 26, 2017

Seeing Sustainability in Action

Charity

I’ve recently returned from Uganda where I went with Project Officer and engineer Colonel Mike Reynolds and Senior Project Manager Melissa Campbell to assess Just a Drop’s work in the ... Read more

December 20, 2016September 18, 2017

Tourism at the End of the Earth….

Development, Responsible Tourism

Well almost. Thanks to the UK government’s Newton-Picarte science funding and the Economic and Social Research Council’s Impact Acceleration fund I was invited, through Bangor University, to Puerto Williams in ... Read more

December 19, 2016January 26, 2017

Total Profit Management

Technology

I often mention that travel is an information product. When it is purchased it is no more than information on a computer hard drive. It doesn’t physically exist. Not only ... Read more

December 13, 2016September 18, 2017

How to ensure your hotel isn’t used by traffickers… just got easier

Human Rights, Responsible Tourism

It would be safe to assume that most people working in hotels do not want their businesses used for human trafficking. And it would be just as likely that most ... Read more

December 13, 2016September 18, 2017

Cape Town hotel’s bucket brigade recycles water in the CBD

Carbon & Water, Responsible Tourism

Capetonians in the CBD may have noticed men and women watering plants on traffic islands with buckets. They are the staff members of the Townhouse Hotel on the corner of ... Read more

December 13, 2016May 15, 2017

Food and Wine Pairing

Food Tourism

Creative Food and Drink Pairings in the Cape Devil’s Peak Craft Beer and food pairings (sausages, ribs, pulled pork, lamb, cheese etc.) Cape Grace Bascule Bar single malt whiskey and ... Read more

December 6, 2016September 18, 2017

The joy of travel – other peoples’ places

Development, Responsible Tourism

We travel to enjoy other peoples’ places, the brochures and websites show us images of their natural and cultural environment the buildings and cafes the landscapes and wildlife. Increasingly those ... Read more

December 1, 2016May 24, 2017

How travel agencies can benefit from the rise of blogs

Blogging

by Guilherme Tetamanti At the end of 2015 I was invited by a well-respected travel agency to a meeting. I confess I was suspicious; after all, the relationship between participants ... Read more

November 29, 2016September 18, 2017

Why partnership has to be the buzzword for sustainable tourism in 2017

Development, Responsible Tourism

2016 has not been a year that many people will look back on that fondly. But as we begin to look forward to 2017, I’d suggest there are some less ... Read more

November 28, 2016February 17, 2017

Who doesn’t love the exhilaration of theme parks?

Blog

Who doesn’t love the exhilaration of theme parks? From the 7 year old, who can’t wait for her school field trip, to the co-worker at work, who constantly craves the ... Read more

November 24, 2016September 18, 2017

Airbnb, disintermediation and communities

Development, Responsible Tourism, Social Economy

Airbnb is only one of many new distribution channels which are creating new opportunities for suppliers and consumers. Like previous disruptors it will probably face competition from other web based ... Read more

November 23, 2016January 26, 2017

Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Real-Life Adventurers…The Inspirational Stories of Women in Travel!

Women in Travel

‘Women in Travel Meetup is a brilliant initiative – it was heartwarming to see women from travel trade from different parts of the world converge in one place to exchange ... Read more

November 21, 2016February 17, 2017

How To Start Planning for ATM 2017

Blog

Did you know that the organisers of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) start planning for the show at least 12 months in advance? As the biggest travel and tourism show in ... Read more

November 15, 2016September 18, 2017

8 Challenges for sustainable tourism posed at WTM London 2016

Development, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism

I spent the whole of World Travel Market sat in the lecture halls, listening to the women and men most committed to developing sustainable tourism discuss the greatest challenges as ... Read more

November 14, 2016January 23, 2017

Hotel Bonanza

Technology

Another World Travel Market has come and gone. I held my Genesys Digital Transformation Summit there on the Tuesday. The seminar room was completely full and we all heard some ... Read more

November 9, 2016January 23, 2017

WTM London 2016 – Final Day Highlights

Blog, WTM Team

The halls of ExCeL London were again packed with travel professionals and there was more invaluable content across the impressive WTM Conference and Seminar Programme on the final day. UNWTO ... Read more

November 9, 2016September 18, 2017

WTM London 2016 10 years of Responsible Tourism

Development, Overtourism, Responsible Tourism, RT Marketing

Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director World Travel Market, toasted the ten years of Responsible Tourism at WTM and thanked all those who have become part of the WTM Responsible Tourism ... Read more

November 8, 2016January 23, 2017

WTM London 2016 Day Two – The Best Bits

Blog, WTM Team

On day two at WTM London 2016 responsible tourism was in focus, with masses of Responsible Tourism professionals all attending for the same reason, to be part of the largest ... Read more