Cover Story profile visitors in these countries .
My main strategy this year was around safety . The research that we ran before we went live with registration showed us that people were saying if they could travel , they would travel . But they also wanted to know our protocols . They wanted to know how safe the event was , and what measures we had in place .
This required us to work closely with ExCeL ; they were managing the whole process of Covid status upon entry to the venue . Everyone needed to provide proof of vaccination or negative test . This all had to be relayed in the marketing material .
It was vital to the show ’ s success to instill confidence in the visitors to encourage them to register and book their flights .
MF : Tell me about exhibitor sentiment : was their optimism on the rebook ? Are they going to be coming back next year ? CL : Yes , we ’ ve had rebooks already , with many exhibitors also looking at our regional shows , such as Arabian Travel Market , which takes place in May , as well as WTM Latin America and WTM Africa . All the exhibitors knew visitor numbers would be down , but that wasn ’ t an issue for them . They appreciate the importance of the show , and the quality of delegate was evidenced in the re-book .
“ People were saying if they could travel , they would travel ”
MF : COP26 was happening at exactly the same time as your event . The world is starting to take its carbon impact more seriously than it ever has done before . And with that , there seems to always be a link between our carbon emissions and the travel industry . As a show operator for that particular market , you ’ re dealing with people which are encouraging people to fly to their destinations . That ’ s inescapable , t hat ’ s part of travel . But that does put you , as organisers , in a position to try and make your show as sustainable as possible . Has there been any discussion about that , are there any plans on what you might do ? CL : Yes , of course . You will have noticed that we used a very small amount of carpet on the show floor this year , opting for the exposed concrete of the ExCeL floor . But the carpet we did use in the aisles was all recyclable . As a show organiser , our operations team worked closely with ExCeL . One of their promises is they want to move to become 100 % sustainable .
On top of that , this year is we jumped on the fact that everyone is a little bit more tech savvy , especially with their mobile phones , so we went paperless , giving people the option to download their badge , as well as the floor plan . We had no printing on site .
That was a complete change for us , but by way of a bridge , if someone wanted to print a badge , for example , it was completely up to them .
We also took the decision not to allow any racking on the exhibitor stands , or any of the major partner stands within the media International Centre . What we did instead was to display QR codes to access downloadable information . Everything that we produced on site was digital .
As an event organiser , we know there are lot more steps that we need to take to be more sustainable . That was just one step this year , and next year we will take yet another step forwards .
The travel industry has also now realised how important it is to promote responsible tourism . Everyone wants to be a little bit greener . And we ’ ve learned consumers are now deciding to visit a destination based on their responsible tourism credentials , and how green they are .
Everyone has had to pivot and think about their own sustainable projects going forward anyway . Our responsible tourism advisor we work with , Professor Harold Goodwin , presented lots of sessions this year with us on how to teach the industry to be greener and how to be more responsible .
MF : So , to conclude , then , the travel industry don ’ t want to see their signature trade show disappearing anytime soon . CL : No , definitely not . EN
Winter — 13