An incredible number of travel professionals walked through the doors at World Travel Market last week, with over 35,800 people participating (Photo: India Outbound)
If there were any lingering doubts about the extent of revival of the global tourism industry in the year 2022, they were removed at the World Travel Market 2022 that was held in an in-person format at its traditional home, the London ExCel Centre. According to the organisers, an incredible number of travel professionals walked through the doors at World Travel Market last week, with over 35,800 people participating, not only exceeding the expected attendance, but also representing over double the attendance than that of 2021.
According to a press statement, one of the key attendee types at WTM London is global travel buyers – individuals with direct purchasing responsibility for travel product. This year, buyer numbers were up 25 pc compared with 2021. “This significant increase is a direct result of ongoing efforts by World Travel Market to map and engage the global buyer audience – reflective of a post pandemic world – homing in on the detail that ensures they receive a flawless event experience,” says the press release.
Specific elements laid on for travel buyers included 1-2-1 speed networking, access to a luxury Buyers Club lounge, fast track entry, a concierge meeting service, as well as an integrated diary function within the official WTM App – all ensuring their time at the event was well spent, the press statement adds.
In addition to that, WTM London saw ministerial representation from 55 nations across the world, up 15 pc on 2021, as well as a 165 pc increase in exhibiting personnel versus 2021, and over 1500 media in attendance, representing over 70 pc increase on 2021. The statement goes on to say that the 2022 attendance at WTM London showcases a sector in recovery and demonstrates an appetite to do business and meet face-to-face.
“Attendance at this year’s World Travel Market was fantastic! WTM London is a microcosm of the travel sector – where participation mirrors industry sentiment – it’s encouraging to see this level of engagement as tourism reaches towards full recovery – and of course demonstrates the importance of face-to-face events. We doubled down on creating an event which prioritised buyers, business deals and trading, and initial results seem to show that we met that goal – which we’re thrilled about,” says Juliette Losardo, Exhibition Director, WTM London.
“That said, we don’t rest for long – and have no room for complacency. We’ve already started work and planning to ensure 2023 will be better than ever!” Losardo added.
Meanwhile, at the Ministerial Summit, that is organised as part of the WTM every year, Tourism Ministers from around the globe called for support to local workers and small businesses saying it is a vital element of the sector’s sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
The politicians joined private sector bosses at the Ministers’ Summit at World Travel Market, that was organised in association with the UNWTO and WTTC. The participants agreed that sustainability and tackling the climate crisis must be top of their agenda but highlighted how training tourism staff and encouraging entrepreneurs and SMEs will boost local and regional economies, helping them to be more resilient.
WTM London saw ministerial representation from 55 nations across the world (Photo: India Outbound)
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, World Tourism Organisation, told ministers the sector must “urgently” rethink tourism as it can be a solution to the climate emergency and need for jobs. “We need to rethink tourism as an employer – during the pandemic, large numbers of workers left tourism, not all of them have come back. We must make tourism an attractive sector to work in and invest in people; motivated young people are key to tourism’s success,” Pololikashvili told the gathering.
He outlined how UNWTO has expanded its education programme, working with universities and educational institutions – with 20,000 students in 190 countries. Pololikashvili also urged the tourism ministers to work closely with colleagues in other ministries to ensure the sector’s voice is properly heard at top government levels.
Julia Simpson, CEO and President at WTTC, agreed the post-pandemic recovery is an opportunity to “rethink our sector” and encouraged closer cooperation between the private and public sectors.
“Our sector creates one in 10 jobs on this planet and one in 10 dollars, that’s people being able to feed and educate their families. We have labour shortages and need to be inventive to attract the right people to our sector,” said Simpson.
Saudi Arabia Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb said the kingdom is investing USD 800 billion during the 2020s to build major tourism destinations and cities, adding: “We are focused on the planet, people and the place. We are making sure materials are environmentally friendly to ensure sustainability and using technology to facilitate the journey of visitors,” Al Khateeb said in his address.
He also informed the gathering that the Kingdom’s initiatives will ensure that one million jobs in tourism sector will be created in the next 10 years so an ambitious training project is needed. “Saudi Arabia will train 100,000 a year for the next 10 years,” he said.
Tourism Minister of Maldives Abdulla Mausoom said the nation aims to be “the most sustainable tourist destination” and is developing more accessible facilities to enable disabled travellers to visit, while Ahmed Issa, Egypt’s tourism minister, said the country is wooing expats as part of a “roots” tourism plan, and hoping to triple its aviation capacity.
Portugal’s Tourism Minister Rita Marques said 20 pc of the country’s workforce was lost during the pandemic so it has a focus on training staff – and has introduced a new visa aimed at digital nomads. “Human capital is a main driver so we have invested heavily in that tourism capital. People are the main assets of tourism,” said Bahrain’s Tourism Minister Fatima Al Sairafi.
