If there’s anything that shows global travel is getting back on track, the gathering of more than 2,000 destinations and travel companies at World Travel Market London is a positive sign. Charlie Trevena from Destination Webinars shares her experience.
With three days of networking and panel discussions, World Travel Market London returned to its face-to-face pre-pandemic format this year. With so much to take in, here’s what I discovered:
1) No unpleasant surprises
Phew! You’ll be relieved to hear there was nothing new to report that isn’t already on our radar. The UK/European travel industry is largely facing the same opportunities and challenges that Australians are and are also using the words ‘cautiously optimistic’. Managing demand, economic uncertainty, the high cost of living and the war in Ukraine are the biggest concerns.
2) Air connectivity is key
Again, there are no surprises that the more a destination has recovered its air capacity, the quicker its overall recovery.
Although not yet back to 2019 airline capacity, trans-Atlantic travel is “booming”, and low fares are driving volume for short-haul travel.
Like us, many travellers are willing to pay a premium for long-haul travel with higher than pre-pandemic fares.
3) The economy is not ‘currently’ having a big impact on travel
According to data travel experts, ForwardKeys, travel demand has not yet been severely impacted by the global economy or interest rates; instead, growth has been slowed by operational and capacity issues.
But as the northern hemisphere heads into winter, the impact of the rising cost of living remains to be seen. In one panel discussion, it was suggested that retirees might find it cheaper to spend a month or two in a warmer climate rather than pay their energy bills!
4) It’s all about family
Whether it’s travelling to visit missed family members or travelling together, family travel tops the priority list, specifically reconnecting, making memories and spending lost time together, including a continuation of the multi-generation family travel trend (and getting the grandparents to pay for it!).
5) It’s all about the beach – and it isn’t
Although a sun-seeking beach getaway is still the main driver of travel from the UK, today’s tourist is more diversified. Tourism offices are investing more in niche destination marketing to complement beach time with specialist interests and activities, culture, history, cuisine and more. And despite the idea that we’re all about wide-open spaces and nature these days, city breaks are still popular too – we’ve missed visiting museums, art galleries and attractions.
6) Underrated destinations
Who doesn’t love exploring a destination before it gets too popular? Here’s a list of the five most underrated destinations, as voted by the UK travel trade in a survey by TTG: 1. Azores, 2. Northern Greece, 3. Bulgaria, 4. Scotland, 5. Estonia. Better get in quick!
7) Embrace technology
A large part of the expo was dedicated to travel technology, including a dedicated ‘Technology Stage’ for discussion, pitching and sharing.
Technology helps us improve both the customer journey – from booking through to travelling, as well as backend business efficiency. Investing in technology will help keep your clients happy and save you time and money in the long run.
8) Make working in travel cool again
Although we love it, it’s little wonder the travel industry is struggling to recruit staff after such a bad wrap during the pandemic.
If we can’t compete on salary, we need to get back to being a rewarding lifestyle career choice with a flexible and fun work environment and plenty of travel opportunities.
We also need to communicate better the variety of career options on offer within the travel industry.
9) Create a culture of learning
In addition to attracting new talent to the industry, we need to create the leaders of tomorrow. Like the ‘two fruit and veg’ recommendation by health professionals, futurist Rohit Talwar suggests we make learning a habit by consuming two pieces of learning content a day and building your learning muscle.
Invest in, and reward your teams’ learning on a personal and professional level, and on an individual and team level, share knowledge to collectively grow and upskill.
Host of Destination Webinars, Charlie, travelled to WTM London as a self-funded media visitor and is reporting for Karryon. If you have any questions, contact her at charlie@destinationwebinars.com.au
