The African Travel and Tourism Association (Atta) has backed Antor’s call to drop the fourth day of World Travel Market and called for a “healthy debate” on the issue.
More than half of the membership of The Association of National Tourist Offices and Representatives (Antor) has voted to lobby against the fourth day of WTM.
Atta chief executive Nigel Vere Nicoll, who also sits on the advisory council of WTM, said his members felt the final day of WTM was no longer worthwhile from a “return on investment” point of view, based on the low attendance figures and cost to attend and exhibit.
He said: “It simply has not worked trying to attract people on the Thursday; they should admit it and reduce the event to three days.There is a lot of sense in what Antor is saying; the fourth day has for some time been a complete disaster.”
Atta represents 560 suppliers and buyers in east and southern Africa. Exhibitor attendance to WTM among its members has fallen 40% over the past three years, added Verenicoll, to around 15 stands last year because of the cost of flights, hotels and attendance and the increase in the number of trade shows now being held in Africa and elsewhere that they wanted to attend.
But he admitted: “We still have a hard core that want to go to WTM and do business and they would rather make it a three-day show. I don’t think my members want to stand around doing nothing [on the Thursday]; they cannot afford to. “
He added the conference forums and discussions being held at WTM on topical issues were of little value to Atta exhibitors because they could not leave their stands to attend.
“They just want to see the buyers of tourism, tour operators which want to bring groups [to the destination],” he said.
He said the issue needed to be debated because of a clear need for change, particularly because of the way the internet had made it easier for companies to communicate.
“We need a healthy debate on this. The message is that it’s time for a change. It’s such an important show in London, we have to find a way to make it work.”
Verenicoll disagreed with the argument that reducing the length of the trade show would effectively turn the third day into a less valuable business day.
Antor has set up an online poll to gauge the opinion of the travel trade, with the question: “How long do you think WTM should be in future?”
The poll is on Antor’s homepage at antor.com.