Thoughts on World Travel Market

Had a great day at World Travel Market in London on Tuesday. Went to a number of workshops run by industry experts to learn about best practice which NCTA will be able to share with others over time.

I found a number of points worth sharing:

At a seminar on Responsible Tourism turns out that Trip Advisor will be launching a Green Leaders scheme shortly (it’s been going 6 months in USA) giving tourism businesses a free but probably less robust option for sustainable certification. Green Tourism Business Scheme has been adopted widely in the UK particularly by hotels trying to appeal to business tourists but is relatively expensive and time consuming.

For Destination Management Organisations there were some interesting case studies from Wales, Durham and Cornwall on marketing using social media focussing on video, face book and blogging to engage with new customers. Rebecca from Visit England talked about their successful ‘101 Things to do before you go abroad’ campaign.

Attended a great seminar from Trip Advisor which highlighted independent research on how important customer reviews are now in the holiday decision-making process with various tips on how to make the most of Trip Advisor Management Centre. Having made personal contact with Trip Advisor executives the NCTA is hoping to arrange a Trip Advisor seminar for all tourism businesses in Bournemouth in the new year.

Go to www.wtmlondon.com for more information.

By Jo Edom