With an eye on the future, thought-provoking research into global and regional travel trends will be revealed throughout all three days at WTM London, taking place from November 5 to 7.

Sessions kick off in the WTM International Media Centre with ForwardKeys’ research into the UK outbound market. ForwardKeys, which analyses 17 million flights a day, will review the impact of the football World Cup, the hot summer and the potential impact of Brexit on 2019 travel from the UK. The session takes place in the Media Conference Theatre (ME580) at 10.30am on November 5 and is preceded by the chance to network over tea, coffee and pastries during the WTM Press Breakfast at 10am.

Research company Mintel will then look at worldwide trends in the Media Conference Theatre at 12pm.

'Global Consumer Trends: Opportunities for the Travel Industry' will look at customer demand for personalised, unique and authentic experiences and for human advice to cut through the digital noise. Mintel’s category director of Travel, Leisure and Foodservice research Paul Davies is the speaker.

On November 6, Nielsen will review global travel advertising and unveil trends across all forms of traditional and online marketing. The session takes place at 10.30am in the Media Conference Theatre (ME580).

In the afternoon, Euromonitor International will present a session entitled 'Keeping Ahead of Megatrends Shaping Travel'. Based on a corresponding report by the analysts, it will take a look at what is shaping future traveller behaviour and expectations, from new ways of shopping to a greater focus on experiences.

It takes place at 1.30pm in the Media Conference Theatre, with Euromonitor’s head of travel Caroline Bremner and consultant Wouter Geerts the speakers.

On the morning of November 7, at 10.30am in the Media Conference Theatre (ME170), there is a session titled 'The Future of the Chinese International Traveller', provided by Resonance  Consultancy.

All research sessions in the Media Conference Theatre are available to all delegates.

As part of WTM London’s drive to hone the relevance of sessions, with a greater focus on the regions represented at the show, area-specific topics will be covered within the regional Inspiration Zones.

Euromonitor makes a second WTM London appearance in the Middle East & Africa Inspiration Zone (AF190) with a session at 12.00 on November 7 entitled 'Travel Trends in the Middle East and Africa'. Presented by analyst Lea Meyer, this will highlight how regional and global shifts are expected to shape future travel supply and demand.

China is in the spotlight in two sessions in the Asia Inspiration Zone (AS1070) this year. In 'How Chinese demands and innovations change the global tourism industry', on November 5 from 11am, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Arlt from the Chinese Outbound Research Institute (COTRI) will present details of travel trends likely to prove important in 2019.

Three Chinese companies will then make presentations on customised travel using Big Data, which will be followed by a panel considering the headline topic. Speakers will include Liwu Wang, vice president of Qyer.com - the largest Chinese outbound traveller online community.

On November 6 at 2:45pm, ForwardKeys is back to focus on travel trends in and out of China with the presentation 'ForwardKeys opens up China'. 

Using benchmarking to understand market shifts, ForwardKeys’ vice president Insights, Olivier Ponti, will demonstrate which outbound destinations are booking well and which are underperforming; how the end of the EU-China Tourism Year is likely to impact Chinese tourism to Europe; and the prospects of Chinese tourists regaining enthusiasm to visit the US.

Paul Nelson, WTM London portfolio press and PR manager, said: “Research is a key component of the WTM London seminar experience, with session consistently stand room-only. With this in mind we have expanded the research programme this year to include more research providers and session than ever before.

“We have a mix of global research alongside dedicated country-focused sessions in our new regional Inspiration Zones. These sessions will offer delegates even more ideas to implement in their businesses, further demonstrating that Ideas Arrive at WTM London,” he said. - TradeArabia News Service