Ian Taylor speaks to World Travel Market chairwoman Fiona Jeffery ahead of the 30th WTM show, which will see its millionth visitor pass through its door next month
Q. What is the role of World Travel Market (WTM)?
A. WTM pulls the industry together globally. Business is its core driver. We measure the business conducted, and it is worth billions of pounds – a combination of what is contracted at the show and what is done as a consequence of WTM.
A lot of companies feel they have arrived on the international scene when they participate at WTM. Companies use the event to internationalise their business. Holiday Autos founder Clive Jacobs [who now owns the TWgroup] used to say to me: “You helped Holiday Autos become an international operation.”
It is an important networking event. Small niche players develop their business by being at WTM.
It is vital we create the right conditions to do business, that we attract the right buyers, and create the right environment.
The fact we are in the UK – one of the top outbound markets – and that English is spoken fuels business. It is not just about business with the UK market – French companies do business with Latin America, Spanish companies with China. We have created a global marketplace.
Q. How important are the seminar and discussion programmes?
A. We like to be ahead of the industry on issues and to showplace niche sectors. WTM was one of the first events to focus on gay and lesbian tourism, and we were way ahead on responsible tourism. The first Environmental Awareness Day was in 1994.
WTM is a central meeting place, a hub. We segment it to offer the breadth of events. One of the most important is the ministerial summit with the United Nations World Tourism Organization, now in its fourth year. Ministers of tourism do not have many opportunities to get together.
A focus this year is on making the disability market more mainstream. How do people with learning or physical disabilities enjoy a holiday? The seminar programme is broad.
Q. Why were the Environmental Awareness and Responsible Tourism days created?
A. Green Globe [one of the first environmental assessment and award bodies] was interested in working with us, and together we launched Environmental Awareness Day.
It attracted 50-60 people – the ‘green’ anorak brigade – for the first two years.
WTM generates a huge amount of waste, so the issue that first year was recycling. We issued bags to separate it. I can’t say it was overly successful. After that, we developed a waste management programme with Earl’s Court.
When we moved to ExCeL, we ran the programme on the centre stage and it evolved into World Responsible Tourism Day, one of the most popular days at WTM.
It probably attracts the biggest international audience. There is a much stronger push from the international market – particularly India, South America, Africa and Asia – than from the UK. People abroad value tourism more and see it can be effectively managed.
Q. How important is responsible tourism, and how serious do you rate industry efforts to address it?
A. It is fundamental. It has to be part of the business ethos. Tourism development is not just about developing a destination – it is about the destination environment.
We have to learn from our mistakes and we don’t always. At the moment, tourism revenue is not necessarily getting to the communities that host tourists. I see the reality and hope for better. Consumer pressure is having an effect on how travel and tourism does business.
If we seriously want to protect the product and want travellers to make a positive contribution, part of our job is to educate the consumer. I hope tourists think about buying from local people, eating local food, and not using bath and shower water to the same degree as now.
Q. How did you come to be chairman of water-aid charity Just A Drop?
A.Just A Drop was founded in 1998 after we had the idea of a charitable initiative. It had to fulfil four criteria – to be global, have an impact on children, be environmentally sound, and be apolitical. Water was not a political hot potato then – it is becoming more of an issue now.
The project is not driven by tourism destinations, but by need. More children under five die from water pollution than anything else. One-sixth of the world’s population has no clean water close to home.
Just A Drop raises about £200,000 a year, mostly from the industry, through a mix of corporate donations and events. Some companies outside travel and tourism are involved. We have two full-time staff and I work two days a week with the charity.
As well as trying to have an impact on the ground, we try to ensure donors see the difference they make. We hit £1 million in total last year and have supported more than 900,000 people in communities around the world. We want Just a Drop to expand, but to keep it personal so people understand what they are giving to.
The key people are Nikki Davis and Ana Sustelo, and Captain Jim Masters – an ex-military man and water engineer.
Q. WTM must have a sizeable carbon footprint. How do you square that with your focus on sustainability?
A. We want to introduce the British Standard for Sustainable Event Management. It involves a series of environmental measures. There will come a time when we measure everything, but we can’t run before we walk.
The stands are reused; the carpet tiles are reused. We penalise people if they leave huge amounts of waste. We fine contractors. We run a waste programme with ExCeL – we police it carefully. ExCeL runs a wormery for food waste.
It even employs people just to put the lights out. At this stage we are doing the best we can. We all have to be more efficient and cost-effective. A business will only be successful if it is sustainable.
But WTM is a four-day event constructed to do business. People do not have to fly several times to do business. They make contact at WTM. They see a lot of people at one time. That is how I square it.
WTM in figures
- 50,000: attendance in 2008
- 25,000: number of overseas visitors
- 50/50: the proportion of exhibitors to visitors
- 80: WTM events hosted around the show
- 5,000 to 6,000: attendance for WTM programmes
- 972,000: total WTM visitors since 1980