Laure spent a few days attending the World Travel Market 2018 in London and had a great experience! Read below to see how she got on…
World Travel Market London is the leading business to business travel event in the world! Its attendees generate more than £2.8 billion of business contracts between them. This show attracts a global audience that shape the travel industry, so it was a great opportunity for our team. Unfortunately, as we registered to participate quite late, we could not join in on all the events but still had the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of interesting people from all around the globe.
Our main reason for being there was to network and raise awareness of our ideas, so I spent most of my time showing the interior of the Zoobox via our Virtual Reality headset at the booth and discussing the project with other exhibitors (Tourism Organisations, Investors, Tourism activities providers). The use of the VR helmet was a great success and gave great feedback from the visitors!
I myself could not attend any of the conferences at the event, though some of them would have been very relevant for our company’s development. I would have personally loved to attend the World’s Responsible Tourism Awards on day 3, so hopefully we get to spend more time there next year!
We loved meeting people with whom we share the similar vision of a more sustainable and respectful world. People with inspiring stories and real purpose in life, such as the Born Free Foundation, who works to prevent individual animal suffering, protect threatened species and keep wildlife in the wild. They are doing a great job with local communities to build understanding and find solutions so people and wildlife can live side by side. This educational component of their mission deserves more recognition for sure!
Another reason to go was to speak to those outside our regular business network. I was able to meet people from South Pacific islands, Japan, New Zealand, people from all around Africa, all around Europe. We have been looking at some of the great opportunities offered. There was brilliant potential for launching the Zoobox further afield in the future!
Future Trade Show Plans!
For now, we plan on visiting the EXPLORE trade show in Stockholm in April 2019 and the IMEX event in Frankfurt in May 2019. EXPLORE is the leading Nordic fair about adventures and hiking. The IMEX event is the most important trade exhibition in Germany for meetings, conventions, events and incentive travel. We look forward to these trade shows and can’t wait to see what other exciting opportunities they offer!
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Take a look at some of the highlights from WTM London 2018 here!