Travel Weekly asked a handful of WTM veterans – with a total of 86 visits between them – how to make the most of the industry’s biggest exhibition
1. Hit the highlights
“Track your steps at World Travel Market this year and support the official charity at the same time by buying a ‘Just a Drop’ pedometer for £10. All funds raised will go towards a project to provide clean water to children from a nominated region in the world.
Take a look at the WTM website programme of events and exhibitor listings and make a plan before you arrive. Thursday November 13 is dedicated to travel agents.
Pick up your Travel Weekly passport from the Travel Weekly booth in the central boulevard and enter the competition to win one of the amazing prizes. This year’s competition presentation will be hosted by Shaun Williamson, best known as former EastEnders character Barry Evans. Also don’t miss out on Travel Pop Stars finals, where one lucky agent will win the chance to live the life of a pop star for a day and record the next Top 40 chart hit.
Check out the exhibitor focused training workshops hosted by the German Tourist Board, the Jordan Tourist Board, the Canadian Tourism Commission, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and Sandals.
Improve your IT skills, learn new selling techniques, and maximise your earnings at the Institute of Travel and Tourism Skills Zone in North Gallery Room 15. Learn how to progress your career at the Tourism Society – How to Climb the Tourism Career Ladder session in North Gallery Room 7.”
– Fiona Jeffery, chairwoman, World Travel Market
2. Cut out the queues
“Wear flat shoes and comfortable clothes – it’s a big show and it can get really hot inside. Take a bottle of water so you don’t waste time queueing to buy one. Take a big bag for all the brochures you’ll pick up, and lots of business cards so you can swap details with potentially useful contacts. Make sure you get your entry pass in advance –
if you wait until the day you’ll have to queue.”
– Maureen Hill, sales consultant, Travel Angels and Travel Weekly columnist
3. Don’t go brochure mad
“Be bold. Don’t be scared to approach people on the stands and ask questions. Don’t pick up every brochure you see; take only what you need and don’t forget that some are available on USB drives or CDs. Your muscles and the environment will thank you for it. Look at the seminars on offer and select a couple.
They only take an hour out of the day but can be so useful. If you get lost, look down. The carpets are colour-coded, so you’ll at least know which section of the show you’re in. Get the hard work out of the way so you can relax and have fun at the drinks receptions.”
– Jonathan Sloan, director, Hills Balfour Synergy PR
4. Hold on for the goodies
“Plan what you want to get out of it. Make the most out of your time in each area – it can take 10 minutes to walk from one to another, so don’t hop backwards and forwards. Bear this in mind when you set up meetings, too.
“Try to avoid wasting time queueing for food. If you get peckish in the afternoon hang on until 5pm – there’ll always be someone supplying cocktails and nibbles.”
– Peter Traynor, general manager, Collette Worldwide
5. Popping some vitamins
“Start taking vitamin tablets now – you need to be in good health. Once you get there, drink lots of water and don’t get sucked into drinking alcohol too early.”
– Nim Singh, marketing manager, Canadian Tourism Commission
- Read our World Travel Market 2008 preview
- Look out for WTM news, videos and more at travelweekly.co.uk/wtm2008
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