WTM underestimates seminar attendance
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WTM Special Report: Disgruntled visitors to this year’s World Travel Market were turned away from oversubscribed seminars.
Among the seminars at which capacity was lacking were the CIMTIG and Designate co-ordinated event entitled “Acquiring and retaining direct customers through online channels,” the Genesys organised “Web marketing tips and tricks” and the dynamic packaging debate involving Andy Tidy, Steve Endacott and Paul Evans.
One trade visitor complained to a security guard outside the Dynamic Packaging seminar on Wednesday 16, that it was the third event he had been turned away from.
“The organisers have completely underestimated the popularity of these events. Do they not realise that people who come to WTM actually want to learn something,” he told TravelMole.
A spokeswoman for the event told TravelMole that she was unaware that people had been turned away from oversubscribed seminars. She said: “The organisers of the seminars probably didn’t realise how popular they’d be.”
“The travel technology sector has just gone through the roof this year and by promoting it heavily and running these seminars we have opened the floodgates,” she said.
At next year’s event, WTM organisers would consider increasing the size of the event and possibly bringing popular travel technology debates to the main stage, according to the spokeswoman.
Report by Ginny McGrath
Ginny McGrath
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