World Travel Market

Un-audited figures revealed that out of the 13,193 Meridian Club visitors (an increase of 2%) a total of 5,270 buyers travelled to ExCeL London from outside the UK — an 8% increase in international visitors. The rise in the number of overseas trade visitors was even higher with an 11% rise.
The number of Exhibiting Partner personnel also went up sharply by 17%. In total, there were 202 representative countries and regions exhibiting at the global business-to-business event. This included more than a 100 government tourism ministers, ambassadors and high commissioners.

“This has been a phenomenal year for World Travel Market and, despite the many traumas and problems that the industry has faced over this past year, reflects the nearly 6% predicted growth for 2005 and, encouragingly, a continued confidence next year,” said Fiona Jeffery, group exhibition director for Reed Travel Exhibitions, organiser of WTM.

The four-day event offered a variety of new features and attractions, including a ministers programme; a new dedicated ‘show within a show’ travel technology area; a personal event planner (PEP) to connect visitors to appropriate exhibitors; a focus on airlines and hotels, and an opening ceremony culminating in the global premiere of some of the music from the musical adaptation of Lord of the Rings.

The Middle East pavilion proved busy as ever, with participation from a number of regional hotel groups and tourism boards, including Coral International Hotels & Resorts, Jumeirah, the Ras Al Khaimah tourism board, and many more.

Egypt’s Red Sea resort, Port Ghalib, made its first European market launch at the show, with a huge interactive stand. “WTM is an event of significant importance to us as it gathers stakeholders and representatives of the global tourism and travel industry under one roof,” said Jim Pringle, senior counsellor for the MA Kharafi Group, developer of Port Ghalib.

“It is an excellent opportunity for us to introduce Port Ghalib to the industry. We focused on many aspects of Port Ghalib, including the opening of our first hotel — the Millennium Coral Beach Diving Hotel, the Sun International “Budours Palace” and “Sahara Sun” resorts that will open in early 2007, as well as Port Ghalib’s unique appeal factors for tour operators, developers, vacation home property investors and of course the travelling public,” he added.

With Sun International opening 950 rooms in its “Budours Palace” and the “ Sahara Sun” resorts in early 2007, Pringle tips Port Ghalib to become the next Puerto Banus.

“Port Ghalib is the ultimate combination destination,” noted Pringle. “Daytime adventure is combined with night time excitement.”

Meanwhile, Hilton International used WTM to showcase its regional expansion plans and to tap into the increasing regional interest from the UK travel market.

“We are focusing our efforts on helping drive major growth to the region from the UK with a very targeted PR campaign launched at WTM,” said Rudi Jagersbacher, vice president, Arabian Peninsula, Hilton International.

“To encourage people to stay longer and experience more, we are paying particular attention to driving twin centre visits across the region, incorporating key Hilton properties in the UAE and Oman,” he added.

“All properties offer unique selling points for the needs of both the business and leisure traveller market from the UK and we are expecting tremendous growth as a consequence,” Jagersbacher said at the show.

Hilton announced numerous new developments at the show, including the launch of the 50-suite Qasr Al Sharq, Hilton’s first ever palace property, which will open in Jeddah on May 1.
Other new openings on the horizon include the 202-room Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort (2007), 324-room Hilton Doha (2007), 350-room Conrad Dubai (2007) and the Hilton Jumeirah Beach Club, which is to launch 40 day use cabanas in Dubai in 2006.

Taking centre stage on the hotel announcements platform was Yotel, marketed as the ‘world’s most radical hotel’. The UK company presented an exact replica of the hotel room next to the World stage at WTM. The hotel is the brainchild of entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe, who took his inspiration from British Airways’ first class cabins, and Japanese capsule hotels.

“Yotel is simply giving travellers what they want,” said Woodroffe. “People are bored with drab look-alike chains, cubby-hole-size urban hotel rooms and grimy bed and breakfasts. They want unique experiences at hotels and are ready to welcome features that surprise them.”

Yotel offers 10.5m² rooms, including Sony flat screen televisions, WiFi, double rotating beds and an en-suite bathroom. What is different about these rooms is that the windows are internal, rather than external, looking into corridors that are naturally lit through reflective mechanisms used to channel light. This allows Yotel to be introduced into locations where other hotels could not, such as central city sites, airports, and even under ground.

The company is quoting prices of US $120 a night for a room in central London.

Back in the Middle East, and Jordan announced that it is to be the host destination for the first Middle East Travel & Tourism Summit (METTS) to take place in February. The two-day event will be held at the Dead Sea from February 26-27. Supported by the Jordan ministry of tourism and antiquities and the Jordan Tourism Board, this British-led conference will focus on sustainable development through tourism by building strong partnerships between local, regional and international private and public sectors.

Organised by the Middle East Association (MEA) and Compass Rose International, both from the UK, in association with Events Unlimited in Jordan, METTS will provide a forum for over 500 travel trade executives to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the region.

“The Middle East travel and tourism market experienced significant recovery in 2005 and is expected to grow in 2006 and beyond,” said Michael Thomas, director of trade and MEA.

“Designed to assist in developing tourism markets in the Middle East, METTS will, through 12 panels and dedicated networking sessions, explore a broad spectrum of topics assisting in developing this key sector,” added Susan Sandouka, managing director, Compass Rose International.

Planned panel discussion topics set to take place at METTS include sustainable development and responsible tourism, preserving cultural heritage and identity, the roles of aviation in realising regional tourism growth, and successful destination management and marketing.

While new hotels and tourism project announcements are all good and well, the success of WTM is often gauged by the actual amount of business signed at the event. While this is yet to be officially tallied, Reed’s Fiona Jeffery predicted that this year’s event would tip US $55 billion in business — another successful year all round.||**||