WTM Virtual to Hold On-Demand Virtual Sessions

WTM Virtual is offering a series of pre-recorded On Demand Virtual Sessions so visitors can keep up-to-date with the latest trends and developments at a time that is convenient to them, without having to wait for scheduled sessions.

As soon as WTM Virtual starts on 9 November 2020, delegates will be able to access a number of pre-recorded sessions, which have been specially selected to help delegates in their COVID-19 recovery plan.

Each session will highlight the opportunities waiting to be grasped in some of the most exciting sectors, including LGBTQ+ as well as the lucrative student, youth and education sector. Other on-demand sessions will look at specific regions, such as how China is navigating its way out of the Covid-19 tourism crisis, or expected demand for increased travel to Latin America.

The importance of brands being positioned to service the LGBTQ+ community and to ultimately help travel brands recover from COVID-19 will be discussed in a colourful debate, moderated by Ian Johnson, Principal Consultant, Out Now.

The session, Planning for our Recovery. LGBTQ+ Travel in 2021 and Beyond, in partnership with PROUD Experiences, will feature speakers Fred Dixon, President and CEO, nyc&co; Shannon Knapp, President & CEO, Leading Hotels of the World and Mark Fletcher, CEO, Manchester Pride.

Another On Demand Virtual Session: From the UK to Latin America, what can we expect in 2021 in travel & tourism, has been organised in association with ForwardKeys.

ForwardKeys has been propelling the travel and tourism sector forward since 2010 using reservation data from airlines and GDS to create smart tech that pinpoints who is travelling where, for how long in which time frame.

Together with industry partner ProColombia, this presentation aims to replace fear with facts that can make a difference to your business strategy. The session will reveal the latest forward booking data and flight search trends in and out of the UK with a special focus placed on Latin America and the Caribbean. The session will be moderated by Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights at ForwardKeys, with input from Colin Stewart, Chairman of the Latin America Travel Association.

Also available on demand is the China Tourism Forum at WTM Virtual, which will shed some light on the measures China has taken in the recovery of the travel and tourism industry.

The session will look at the fast recovery of travel and tourism in China, which started with the May Day holiday and further enhanced during the Second Golden Week holiday in the beginning of October when domestic flights and hotels experienced the level of traffic surpassing that of 2019.

The China Tourism Forum at WTM Virtual session will be moderated by Dr Adam Wu, Chief Executive Officer of travel company CBN Travel and MICE, with input from speakers Bowen Sun, Director of Globalization, Research Center, Trip.com Group; Dawn Jeremiah, VP of Marketing & E-commerce, Leisure Pass Group and Amjad Nashashibi, Director of Sales and Marketing, Swiss Quality Hotels International.

In another session, the British Educational Travel Association (BETA), will share some key insights and forecasts into the future of the youth, student and educational travel sector.

The sector is often undervalued, yet is a vital part of the travel and tourism industry. Research shows young travellers stay longer and spend more than the average traveller – and destinations should be doing more to attract this segment.

The session entitled Youth, Student & Educational Travel – the key to long term, sustainable recovery in the travel industry, will look at growth opportunities and how the sector might change post-COVID; the type of experiences Generation Z might look for in the future and how marketers can tap into the influential and high repeat visitor sector.

WTM London Senior Director Simon Press said that with WTM’s on-demand sessions, WTM Virtual attendees can maximise their time and organise their visit to generate more opportunities by catching up with sessions whenever they have ‘windows’ in their WTM Virtual diary. Each session has been carefully selected to shine a light on achievements already attained as travel looks to rise up from the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunities available as we look to the future.”