The inevitable has happened. For the first time since WTM London was launched in 1980, there will be no live event. WTM had announced in July that they will have the full blown regular—most awaited travel trade show of the year—as scheduled from November 2-4, 2020. But that was not going to happen. WTM has now said that, after working tirelessly to organise a physical show, because of increasing number of travel restrictions and the uncertainty around the world, it had become practically impossible for many overseas visitors to attend in person.
WTM London’s Senior Director Simon Press said, “Additionally, there remains uncertainty around business events and conferences being allowed to take place in the UK.” Hence, after 40 years of everyone coming to WTM, WTM London 2020 is coming to everyone!
WTM Virtual will take place from 9-11 November, offering delegates the chance to arrange one-to-one virtual meetings to do business, attend conference sessions and roundtables, take part in speed networking and more. The main aim will be to help recover and rebuild and shape the travel industry at a time when it needs it the most. The virtual event will focus on restoring and developing business connections, growing network, brand and learning how to make a comeback.
The virtual event will take place across three days, from 7am-10pm, to allow access from the different zones across the globe. The live conference sessions and forums will be tackling some of the issues the industry is facing today, as well as speed networking sessions, one-to-one meetings, and virtual networking opportunities.
Simon Press added, “We want to keep the global travel conversation alive and help deliver new connections as well as offering a wide range of online business opportunities. Thousands of travel trade professionals from around the globe will still be able to meet and do business in an extensive range of virtual sessions, to help the industry recover, rebuild and innovate.”
“We will address the impact the global health pandemic has had on the travel and tourism industry and discuss a road map to recovery, identifying the trends and innovation shaping the future of the industry and show you the path that lies ahead.”
The virtual show will also see an investment summit in partnership with ITIC – International Tourism & Investment Conference – and a new Marketing Forum and masterclass workshop in partnership with The Five Percent.
The WTM Virtual will have four virtual theatres to host webinars and debates, including the Responsible Tourism. Furthermore, a virtual version of Travel Forward is being shaped up and will combine virtual exhibition, free virtual conference sessions and speed networking for start-ups to meet investors.
With the theme “Resilience, Innovation, Response”, Travel Forward Virtual will add a technology-based approach in supporting the recovery of the travel and tourism industry.
London Travel Week will still keep its dates of 30 October-5 November 2020 but it will be returning only virtually providing attendees with a chance to learn, network and innovate in the week leading up to WTM Virtual. During London Travel Week, there will be six Speed Networking sessions on offer so that exhibitors, brands and destinations can meet before the virtual show and form business connections.
London Travel Week will also provide the perfect forum to celebrate the achievements of those in the travel and tourism industry through virtual awards ceremonies such as the World Travel Leaders’ Awards and the Responsible Tourism Awards.
The week will also see summits on Wellness, BAME Tourism, LGBT Tourism as well as Destination Briefings and Press Conferences allowing countries and brands to showcase their activities in the last few months to recover, rebuild and innovate.
The UNWTO, WTTC & WTM Ministers’ Summit will gather tourism ministers and the private sector with a mixture of live and virtual events to set out a roadmap for a safer, greener and smarter future for the sector.
The summit is the largest annual gathering of tourism ministers and pledges to bring together about 100 ministers along with 100 industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts to help develop the manifesto through a Delphi process.
Simon Press concluded: “We made the decision to transition to a virtual-only event after a great deal of consultation with our industry partners, sponsors, delegates and staff. We know this will be a disappointment to all those who were planning to attend the live show.
“However, our main objective has always been to deliver a global show bringing travel professionals from the seven continents, and we are now channelling our energies into the creation of an outstanding, large-scale digital gathering that will enable the travel industry to connect, to network, do business and learn about this new consumer environment.
“2020 has been a challenging year, but we pledge to do everything we can for the travel industry in 2021 and bring you the best live version of WTM London from the last 40 years”.