WTM 2013 claims another record year for business
World Travel Market 2013 will generate £2.2 billion in industry deals by the end of October – a 19% increase on WTM 2012.
It compares to £1.9 billion that was generated in business deals, either on the exhibition floor or in the 12 months that followed WTM 2012.
The increase in business generated by WTM 2013 can, in part, be accredited to the 8% increase in WTM Buyers’ Club members to more than 8,500.
Furthermore, there was a 5% increase in overall trade visitors compared to 2012, with WTM overall welcoming more than 50,000 participants over the four days of the event, from November 4-7, 2013.
Speed Networking sessions, which match the right buyers to exhibitors, also showed higher attendance, leading to the increase in business.
Specialist ticketing company Encore said it will generated more than £5 million of new business deals as a result of World Travel Market, while European holiday hotspots Andalucía and The Canary Islands confirmed they had both seen a huge uptake in business deals as a result of the event.
MyBookingRewards.com, a rewards programme which connects travel agents with suppliers, also expanded its business in to a number of new countries due to deals agreed at World Travel Market 2013.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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