Forum aims to promote tourist arrivals and tourism revenue in South East Europe and Balkans
New Deal Europe Marketplace & Forum 2025 will open in London on Mach 25 with a record turnout of tourism professionals with over 100 buyers and 80 supplier organisations registered to participate in the B2B marketplace, reflecting a 20 pc increase on the previous year.
The organisers of the event, European Tourism Association (ETOA), say that New Deal Europe is the only travel market platform dedicated to generating tourism business to South-East and Balkan regions of Europe,
In a press statement, ETOA says that the line-up for the forum element of the meeting features keynote panellists from market-leading organisations. It adds that the forum element of the event will focus on growth in tourism to the region, with a panel discussing how destinations can capitalise on this to increase revenue per tourist.
The forum is hosted by the ETOA and will be chaired by Rachel Read, Director of Insight, ETOA. It will be preceded by primary research and statistics on market trends in South East Europe and the Balkans, presented by David Edwards, ETOA’s Insight Expert.
It adds that the panellists include Menno van Ijssel, Project Manager Research, European Travel Commission, an organisation comprising the national tourism boards of Europe and, through its brand ‘Visit Europe’, a key element in marketing Europe to overseas markets. Representing the voice of tour operators will be Claire Hanney, Managing Director, Travel Experiences, Travel Corporation, the largest travel company in the world, whose brands include Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Contiki.
Viljam Kvalic, Director of Incoming from Kompas, the largest DMC in the area, based in Slovenia, will represent the view from the region and examine what destinations are currently doing, and what they could do better, to attract more revenue. Bringing a long-haul luxury market perspective will be Tim Hennigan from the Travel Collaborative, a collection of luxury concierge travel agents from the United States.
“The forum topic is especially relevant this year in the wake of recently published statistics showing Albania achieved 11 million tourists for the first time this year, but the revenue per tourist went down. Conversely, the Government and National Tourism Board in Croatia have criticised the industry for ever-increasing prices, fearing that a limit has been reached and that the current pricing will drive tourism away. We are looking forward to a great debate and some interesting ideas and solutions coming out of the discussion,” says Robert Dee, Co-founder and Co-Director, New Deal Europe.
The statement adds that in addition to the forum, the event will feature presentations on selected destinations and a marketplace which will deliver over 1,500 B2B meetings, all focused on generating tourism to the region of 12 countries extending from the Adriatic to the Black Sea.
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