WTM London 2019 builds on 40 years of success
s regular attendees know only too well, there’s always a great buzz at World Travel Market London and as we celebrate the event's 40th edition in 2019, there is even more excitement around the exhibition. Forty years ago, the travel industry was in its relative infancy and few of the 180+ destinations – plus many more industry sector representatives – that are exhibiting in 2019 could have predicted the global tourism boom that followed. The travel and tourism industry continues to grow, with more than 1.4 billion trips predicted to take place globally this year and the number forecast to rise to 1.8 billion by 2030. To reflect this growth, WTM London 2019 is extending its reach with exciting launches and a vision to share new ideas, driven by a network of contacts, an engaged community and thought-inspiring content. You will notice that WTM London’s 'Ideas Arrive Here' concept – introduced in 2018 – has been woven into the entire 2019 programme and show. We are expanding our notion of this concept through the key themes of Innovative
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40 years of WTM London
This year’s show, part of the debut London Travel Week, looks set to break business deal records, cementing its status as the world’s leading travel industry event
Perspectives, New Possibilities and Inspiring Fresh Thinking. Through Innovative Perspectives we will explore how the industry will look in three to five years, share innovations and discuss current and upcoming challenges. As the name suggests, New Possibilities will showcase new exhibitors and products at WTM London, while Inspiring Fresh Thinking introduces new content to the conference programme, with motivational speakers, entrepreneurs and leaders bringing inspiring stories from ‘hot’ sectors such as responsible and sustainable tourism and wellbeing, sports and music travel. In a WTM London first, September saw the launch of BorderlessLive, a new event where content creators, worldwide brands and destinations came together for a festival-style exhibition and conference. Organised in partnership with influencer-marketing agency Traverse, it was a oneof-a-kind event, with close to 700 delegates
interacting with more than 30 exhibitors and attending more than 50 specialist sessions designed to showcase the future of content creation in the travel industry. The event was a great success and we can’t wait for the 2020 edition of BorderlessLive, which promises to be even bigger and better. To celebrate the importance of the growing global tourism sector, we have introduced London Travel Week, which takes place over seven days and includes WTM London, boosting awareness of how big the travel sector really is. Between November 1 and 7, London Travel Week will bring together a medley of industry events to create the largest festival of its kind in the world – one that will really shape the global travel and tourism industry over the next 12 months. There are countless industry events taking place all over London and the UK, which combine to create a world-class travel hub. We launched our inaugural International Travel & Tourism Awards (ITTAs) in 2018 with great fanfare, celebrating the success of national, regional and city tourist boards, as well as outstanding private sector companies and individuals.
