World Travel Market chairman Fiona Jeffery is to leave after 26 years.
Jeffery received an OBE for services to tourism last year, and a statement said she was leaving to pursue “other interests in the global travel and tourism industry”.
She will continue in her role as chairman of Just a Drop, the international water charity she founded in 1998.
Jeffery said: “I am sad to go after all this time but proud of the achievements that have been realised by myself and the World Travel Market team. I leave behind a business that has grown to become a strong global brand.”
WTM will continue to be run by the existing management team led by exhibition director Simon Press.
In the statement, WTM’s parent company Reed Travel Exhibitions said it thanked Jeffery for her “significant contribution to the business over many years”.
Among Jeffery’s major achievements are the launch of WTM’s Environmental Awareness Day in 1997, which developed into WTM World Responsible Tourism Day in 2005.