The recent World Travel Market (WTM) London 2015’s Conference and Event programme experienced a 6.2 per cent increase in the number of visitors, surpassing the 18,000 barrier for the first time.

WTM London 2015 hosted more than 100 conferences and events with a total attendance of 18,097.

Furthermore, the number of unique delegates attending the sessions increased by 2.2 per cent to 9,027 compared to WTM London 2014’s 8,829. In 2013, the number of unique delegates attending the sessions was 8,482 and in 2012 it stood at 7,494.

The conference and events programme – which included sessions on aviation, cruise, hotels, sports tourism, technology, wellness and responsible tourism – experienced massive visitor growth on two of the four days of WTM London 2015

November 2 saw a 14 per cent increase in attendance to 2,781 compared to the previous year. The first day of WTM London 2015 included the prestigious WTM Leaders’ Lunch event, which saw former Manchester United CEO David Gill address more than 200 of travel’s senior leaders. The WTM Buyers’ Speed Networking also saw around 1,000 exhibitors and buyers discuss business deals before the exhibition floor opened.

November 3 saw almost 600 people attend the WTM & UNWTO Ministers’ Summit on Destination Branding.

November 4 experienced a 25 per cent increase in delegates to 6,298, fuelled in part by the hugely popular WTM World Responsible Tourism Day. The Spafinder Wellness Travel Awards also took place.

WTM London also hosted a large Travel Tech Show at WTM programme and the largest WTM Bloggers’ Speed Networking event with 100 bloggers talking to exhibitors for 90 minutes.

The Travel Tech Show at WTM Event programme – which includes technology, social media, blogging and mobile – had a total attendance of 8,168 a 10.5 per cent increase on 2014’s attendance.

The increase in attendance at the WTM London Conference and Seminar programme is part of the wider success story of WTM London 2015, which saw almost 50,000 delegates attend over the four days. The event is predicted to facilitate more than GBP2.5 billion in industry deals, which would be a record for all the previous 36 World Travel Markets.

WTM London, conference and seminar manager, Charlotte Sutton said: “The WTM London Conference and Seminar programme was a great success with a record number of unique and overall attendees listening and learning from high profile speakers from both inside and outside the travel and tourism industry.”

WTM London, senior director, Simon Press, said: “World Travel Market 2015 was a great success, with almost 50,000 delegates in attendance and a record number of attendees at the Conference and Events sessions, breaking through the 18,000 barrier for the first time.” – TradeArabia News Service