Flanders and Switzerland are among the exhibitors honored with awards for their stands at World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry. The Best Stand Awards were judged by an expert panel.

The UNWTO & WTM Ministers' Summit set the tone for the second day of World Travel Market 2014, with tourism ministers from around the world discussing the synergies between mega-events and tourism. The key message is that the legacy benefits should always be front of mind when destinations are considering whether to host such events.

Visitors to World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, got down to business from the start of the first day, Monday 5 November, with key new business contacts being made at the WTM Speed Networking event.

U.S. Travel Association and Virgin Holidays launched the IPW Virgin competition; the opportunity for one travel writer to win return flights to Orlando to explore all the diverse city has to offer.

A ten-fold increase on government spending on tourism is helping Ecuador rebalance its economy away from oil. In recent years the country has channeled more funds into the tourism sector, helping to boost numbers by 15 percent this year.

Caribbean tourism bosses are targeting growth in UK arrivals of between 4 and 5 percent in 2015 on the back of a strong first half of 2014. Overall visitor numbers to the region were up 4.3 percent in the first six months of 2014, with UK arrivals up by 4.9 percent to 485,700.