World Travel Market London 2022: Onheemlech!

Without any doubt, travel and tourism is back. The just concluded World Travel Market was packed, exciting, and lively. It was a huge success for the organizer Reed Expo, but also for the global travel and tourism industry altogether.

Dark clouds of transportation strikes went away, and with the new Elizabeth Tube connection, getting to the London Excel exhibition center was a lot faster and easier this year. The Elizabeth line offers also a direct connection to London Heathrow Airport.

Resilience is what Jamaica’s Tourism Minister kept talking about, and he was correct. The industry showed off its resilience and optimism on November 7, 8, and 9 when sellers and buyers from around the globe went to London to shake hands with old friends, met new customers, and attend one or more of the many events during the second-largest travel show in the world.

There was little time for self-servicing or repeating “blah, blah, blah,” as this World Travel Market meant business.

Therefore, even the Seychelles Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Sylvestre Radegonde, had no time to be upset when UNWTO refused his entry to the ministerial summit because he arrived 5 minutes late, his time was definitely better spent returning to his stand.

The Investment Summit gained a lot of momentum. Besides the movers and shakers in the private business, other important figures in the public sector included the former UNWTO Secretary-General Dr. Taleb Rifai; the man of tourism resilience, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett; the new Minister of Tourism from Barbados, Ian Gooding-Edghill; the Tourism Minister from Montenegro, the Hon. Djurovic; and many were seen with association leaders such as African Tourism Board Chairman Cuthbert Ncube, and World Tourism Network Chairman Juergen Steinmetz, among many more.

The Bahamas new Acting Director General of the Tourism Board, Latia Duncombe gesot eTurboNews, the destination is exploring new markets including India or the UAE.

Sri Lanka’s tourism officials assured journalists at a packed press conference that they are back in full swing.

The shining star of the World Travel Market was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was the main destination sponsor and clearly dominated the event as a destination.

His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Aqeel AlKhateeb, the Saudi Tourism Minister, showed face in London and got on a plane to attend the Climate Conference in Egypt, making a positive difference times two.

Saudi Arabia invited attending ministers to dinner on Tuesday, while the World Travel and Tourism Council hosted its members and the top private industry players at the same time.

WTTC CEO Julia Simpson was excited to hunn der WTTC 2022 Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia later this month.