Interview: Fiona Jeffery, Reed Exhibitions director
World Travel Market organiser Fiona Jeffery has defended the decision to take the event to east London and pledged this year’s show will be better than ever.
WTM has taken the controversial decision to hold the event at Excel in London’s Docklands after ten years in central London at Earl’s Court.
Reed Exhibitions director Fiona Jeffery faced accusations of greed for transferring to a bigger venue while some people said the decision was political because Reed has a stake in Excel.
“We didn’t move because of the link between Reed and Excel,” Jeffery told TravelMole. “The event is too important to the company to make a decision for that reason.
“We moved it because we had occupied every nook and cranny at Earl’s Court and there was no further flexibility to develop the show to make it better for delegates, for networking and holding debates.”
She said exhibitors were paying around 268 pounds per square metre at the show, which runs from November 11-14, compared to 286 pounds last year and added there would only be an inflationary rise in 2003.
“We are not making a massive profit because we are making a huge investment in developing WTM,” said Jeffery.
She said World Travel Market was holding a welcome party for 10,000 people at Excel, which include speedboats and helicopters on show.
“This is called our WOW extravaganza – the World Travel Market Official welcome. That would not be possible in central London and we have the backing of the Greater London Authority.”
Jeffery said WTM had over 5,000 exhibiting countries occupying 11% more floor space than last year.
Monday and Tuesday are Meridien days, open to exhibitors, press and Meridien Club members. Wednesday and Thursday are trade days open to anyone in the business-to-business trade arena. Jeffery said pre-registrations were 15% up for Meridien days and 22% up for trade days.
Some companies have decided to withdraw or reduce their presence at WTM following the location switch. Car rental giant Holiday Autos, which occupied the central area at Earl’s Court will have a much smaller presence in the Docklands.
“Lufthansa has pulled out of ITB, but is coming into WTM for the first time in four years,” said Jeffery. “And Gulf Air has come back for the first time in years.”
Jeffery accepted that some people would prefer the event to stay in central London, but claimed transport links were good and people’s perceptions would change when
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