World Travel Mart Opens Registration for WTM 2011 Event

World Travel Mart Opens Registration for WTM 2011 Event

World Travel Market has opened registration for WTM 2011, which will focus on the emerging sector of sports tourism and particularly the Olympics with it being the final WTM before the 2012 London Olympics. Next summer, the Olympics comes to WTM’s home of east London, with its host venue ExCeL, London playing a prominent role in hosting the games with boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling medals all being hotly contested under its roof.

To celebrate, promote, discuss and debate the role the travel and tourism industry will play in the success of the 2012 Games, World Travel Market will for the first time have two headline sessions on sports tourism.

World Travel Market first launched its sports tourism events program in 2009 with a headline session profiling the recent Winter Olympics, 2010 Football World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics. 2010’s session also highlighted the London Olympics with the event chaired by UK Athletics Chief Executive David Moorcroft. This year sees the first session take place on Monday, Nov. 7, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the second on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Inbound operators and agents to the U.K. are so concerned about the availability and price of London hotel rooms next summer many are considering dropping the U.K. from their European brochure tours, the Think Tank discovered. The sports tourism program will debate the advantages and disadvantages of hosting the Games and will provide a great insight for future host countries, including Brazil, which is hosting the 2014 football World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.