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WTM 2008 Seminar, Conference and Events programme

The World Travel Market (WTM) 2008 and Conference and Seminar programme commences on Tuesday 11 November with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Ministers’ Summit and will run across three days culminating on Thursday 13 November with the WTM Global Economic Forum.

A full range of educational programmes focusing on key industry sectors within the travel and tourism industry including technology, airlines, responsible tourism, global trends forecast, gay travel, spa, health and wellness, cruise, PR and communications and ancillary markets have been developed to offer participants excellent insights and learning.

Commenting on this year’s programme, WTM Chairman, Fiona Jeffrey’s said, “This year’s conference and seminar programme is very comprehensive and explores a number of targeted influential sub industries within the marketplace. World Travel Market continues to push boundaries examining a wide range of subjects including global economics within the travel and tourism industry, technology, and responsible tourism.”

WTM Global Economic Forum
New for WTM 2008, The WTM Global Economic Forum will take an in-depth look at the economic outlook for the travel and tourism industry moving forward into 2009-2010. Chaired by retired broadcaster and economics journalist Peter Hobday, a longstanding presenter on the BBC4 radio programme Today and Newsnight, the panel of key economic experts will provide valuable insight for the tourism industry into the state of the world economy.

Given the recent slow downs and credit crunch taking place around the world, the forum will provide participants with valuable insight into the effects of the world economy on travel and tourism.

WTM World Responsible Tourism Day
Now in its second year WTM World Responsible Tourism Day (WTM WRTD), in association with the UNWTO and supported by leading international industry associations such as PATA and the World Travel & Tourism Council, will once again provide the travel industry with a full day of hard-hitting truths to increase awareness about responsible tourism.

The day will once again be chaired by world renowned BBC journalist Stephen Sackur and will include a special WTM WRTD live session of ‘Hard Talk’ with a senior internationally known figure, examining in detail just how companies can change and play a more responsible role within the industry. Other sessions throughout the day will focus on the role that operators and hoteliers can and should be playing in developing the sustainable tourism agenda and the issues they can impact and influence.

The Business Case for Responsible Tourism
Thursday 13 November will see an extension of the WTM WRTD programme with a conference investigating the financial profitability of practicing responsible tourism within an organisation. The conference will follow two main tracks focusing on hoteliers and tour operators including joint and segmented panel debate sessions and a networking lunch.

Aimed at corporate social responsibility directors and managers, marketeers, public corporate relations directors, managing directors, business owners, and responsibility policy makers the programme will take an in-depth look at the business case of making an organisation more socially responsible while still maintaining, and in most cases, increasing profits. Expert speakers from the travel and tourism industry will share their experiences and discuss both their successes and learning experiences.

UNWTO Ministers’ Summit
The prestigious UNWTO Minister’s Summit will again take place at WTM on Tuesday 11 November. This year’s topic, Responding to the economic downturn and staying with the climate and poverty reduction agendas, will delve into the global issue of poverty and the environment. Ministers from around the world will gather at this invitation only event to debate and discuss these important subjects, exploring how the travel and tourism industry can continue to combat poverty and climate change in the current economic market.

Airline Programme
A comprehensive airline programme will run across two days beginning with the Airline Head to Head on Tuesday 12 November. The session will cover a range of issues affecting the industry in the current turbulent market through an exclusive one-to-one interview with a top airline industry leader.

Taking a comprehensive look at the industry and the environment, Wednesday’s seminar will examine topics such as short haul flights vs. trains, taxation impacts on airlines and the subsequent impact on tourism, improved industry performance including better air traffic control, more efficient aircraft, bio fuels, and passenger offsetting and emissions trading schemes.

Eye for Travel - WTM Technology and Online Travel
WTM has partnered with Eye for Travel, who will be hosting three one day technology conferences at the exhibition. The first conference, Mobile in Travel takes place on Tuesday 11 November and investigates this groundbreaking new medium for communicating strategically to customers to engage, foster loyalty and increase revenue.

Technology participants interested in learning more about the evolution of online travel and its rapidly changing face, can attend the Online Travel Leadership Forum: Evolution of Online Travel on Wednesday 12 November.

Those interested in finding out about web content and the strategies behind effectively planning your web materials to engage customers are invited to attend Online Content and Conversion Strategies on Thursday 13 November.

Gay and Lesbian Masterclass
For the third consecutive year, WTM has invited leading gay travel marketing experts, Out Now, to present their research and findings on the gay travel market at WTM. This year Out Now will examine the essential knowledge the industry needs to capitalise on the much homogenised, but financially lucrative segment of the international travel industry. Gays and lesbians account for around 6% of the global population and around 10% of total travel expenditure.

WTM’s Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass will be moderated by Out Now founder and CEO, Ian Johnson. This year’s Masterclass titled Homosexual, not Homogenous - The importance of market segments when selling travel to the lesbian and gay markets, will take an in-depth look at the various different sub markets within gay travel groups exploring how to best target each individual sub category.

China Now - WTM China-Contact Forum
Now in its third year the WTM China-Contact conference will follow on experiences learned from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing offering an interactive forum for discussion about how to develop business with China as a destination, service provider and tour operator. With the strong support of VisitBritain, China National Tourism Administration, Visit London, Kunming Municipal Tourism Board and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, top experts from tourism bodies and travel companies intimately involved in China are meeting at WTM on Wednesday 12 November to share their case studies with international tourism delegates.

For more information about these specific events and a full listing of the conferences and seminars taking place at WTM visit www.wtmlondon.com.