The organisers of World Travel Market/WTM London have announced that WTM London 2024 will run from Tuesday November 5 to Thursday November 7, inclusive, next year.
The announcement of next year’s date comes less than a week after WTM London 2023 finished.
The three-day event took place last Monday to Wednesday – November 6-8 – with 43,727 attendees counted – an increase of 22% on the 35,826 who attended in 2022.
This year’s event hosted 4,560 qualified buyers, and facilitated 29,077 pre-booked meetings, enabling the industry to plan, network and do deals for 2024 and beyond.
Over three days at London’s ExCel, World Travel Market London welcomed 1,976 representatives of the world’s media – up by 31% on 2022.
The number of exhibitors rose by 23% year on year, up to 3,875 – and the event was 5.3% larger than the pre-pandemic show in 2019.
Juliette Losardo, WTM London Exhibition Director, said:
“We’re thrilled to see delegate numbers rise by more than a fifth on last year. It is a really encouraging reflection of the confidence and optimism in travel and tourism.
“The challenges we all face were debated at many sessions but, despite these issues, there was a very positive mood among visitors and exhibitors.
“I’m delighted that our innovations over the three days have helped improve the visitors’ experience.
“These figures confirm that WTM London is the best place for executives in our sector to network, find out about the latest trends and seal deals that will help travel and tourism flourish in 2024 and beyond.”
There were 53 ministers in attendance at World Travel Market, supporting their NTO’s and discussing how to transform tourism through education.
The sector’s future workforce was also in the spotlight on Day Two, with the Institute of Travel & Tourism (ITT) Future You Conference taking place.
WTM London landed a host of innovations based on changing traveller trends and feedback from attendees in 2022.
Day One saw the release of the exclusive WTM Global Travel Report compiled alongside Tourism Economics – which uncovered fascinating insights into changing behaviour and key emerging markets.
Overall, more than 70 conference sessions took place on three new stages which were named Discover, Elevate and Innovate – a reflection of their goals.
The sessions heard from major brands such as Hilton, TUI, easyJet Holidays and Virgin Atlantic, as well as niche specialists, start-ups, and destinations across the globe.
WTM London’s Responsible Tourism Advisor Harold Goodwin heard about sustainability innovations and over-tourism, which is back in the spotlight as travel volumes return to pre-pandemic levels.
Other debates looked at the tourism benefits of hosting major sporting and cultural events, and the importance of diversity and inclusion.
A tourism partnership between Brazil and South Africa and an agreement between Jet2.com and the Moroccan National Tourism Office were among the major deals signed at the event.
The event wrapped up with keynote speaker TV documentary maker Louis Theroux reflecting on the value of cultural interactions around the world.
