Travel industry finally meets again at WTM London

Dhaka: The WTM London opening officially took place with Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism in Saudi Arabia; Fahd Hammidaddin, Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Tourism Authority; Hugh Jones named CEO at RX Global and Princess Haifa AI Saud, Assistant Minister of Tourism in Saudi Arabia.

The first day of the show welcomed exhibitors from more than 100 countries and regions, more than 6,000 pre-registered buyers from 142 countries and travel professionals from all over the world.

The largest gathering of travel industry professionals in the world since the pandemic began is the perfect platform for recovery in 2022.The show featured numerous business meetings, insightful conferences and press conferences.

Responsible tourism was the key theme for the day. As the leading global event for the travel industry, WTM London has championed the cause of responsible tourism and the annual WTM Responsible Tourism Awards celebrated the best of travel across categories – winners list will be released this morning.

Younger people are increasingly turning to travel agents to book holidays because of the confusion and problems seen during the pandemic, according to the WTM Industry Report.

Its survey of 1,000 consumers found 22 per cent of those aged 35-44 said they were more likely to use an agent, along with 21 per cent of those aged 22-24 and 20 per cent of those aged 18 to 21.

Respected travel journalist Simon Calder presented these and many other positive findings from WTM's Industry Report on the first day of the event.

The report also found that holidaymakers are four times as likely to book a package than a sharing-economy stay for next year.