Are there any important milestones for WTM in 2012?
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| Simon Press |
WTM 2012 is a key milestone for our industry leading buyers club – the Meridian Club. At WTM 2012 Meridian Club will celebrate its 21st anniversary, having been launched in 1992 as the only club for the industry’s buyers. WTM 2011 generated £1,653 million deals for the industry and WTM 2012 is poised to facilitate even more. 2012 has also been a milestone year for the WTM Vision Conference series with events taking place in Shanghai, Moscow, Florence, Mumbai alongside established events in London and Dubai.
Do you have a special focus on India this year ?
India has been given its own region on the exhibition floor for the first time, in previous years it has been included as part of the Asia region. WTM 2011 generated £56 million deals for Indian exhibitors, with the country having its own dedicated region for the first time and increased involvement from both the private and public sector India can expect to generate even more business from WTM 2012.
How many exhibitors are expected to participate from India this time ?
India has more than 1,000 square metres of space at this year’s event will include a number of established and new exhibitors from both private and public sectors. In total there will be more than 50 exhibitors at WTM 2012.
What is your perception of the India market ? What kind of growth has it seen in terms of participation in WTM ?
India is one of the most important global inbound and outbound markets. This is demonstrated by its increased participation at WTM over the past few years. WTM 2011 saw India Tourism expand its stand space by 16 per cent compared to WTM 2010, which was a massive 28 per cent more than at WTM 2009. WTM launched its first WTM Vision Conference event in India this year because of the country’s growing importance in the global industry.
What are the business expectations for India this year ?
Independent research revealed WTM 2011 would lead to £1,653 million of travel industry deals between exhibitors and senior industry buyers from the WTM Meridian Club – a 16 per cent increase on the previous year.
India on its own generated Rs 4,900 lakh (£56 million). We are expecting this to increase this year not just down to the increase in numbers of companies exhibiting at the event but also through the increase in organised networking opportunities. This year we have continued with the extremely successful speed networking event that takes place prior to the event and have also introduced a further speed networking event later. This is free for exhibitors to attend and do business with pre selected global buyers from our Meridian Club.
Please give some information about your promotional strategy.
World Travel Market is dedicated to facilitating business for its exhibitors and the industry at large. WTM’s promotional strategies are all about increasing the number of Meridian Club buyers attending the event so exhibitors have more companies to conduct business deals. We also target the many associations within the industry to make sure we are attracting high calibre of visitors. Social media is also important and WTM won the Association of Event Organisers’ award for Best Use of Social Media.
Any other significant factor that you would like to mention ?
At World Travel Market we want to take WTM to our audience so will continue to explore brand extensions all over the world. 2013 sees the launch of WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, which will also host WTM Vision Conference – Sao Paulo.
Will there be any special events or conferences ?
For the Indian market we have a dedicated BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) session.
