World Travel Market held in London this year was a grand success like every other year. It is considered as the most happening travel trade event in the global travel calendar of the world travel industry.
Like every year, WTM happens to enlighten the industry with various findings and key trends in the market. These are basically some interesting facts and trends that are controlling and are going to control the major events and changes in the coming years.
Travel business surges:
According to a poll of WTM exhibitors and buyers, one of the major trends in the travel industry is the growing optimism for the future of travel enterprises. More than half of all exhibitors and buyers said they expected to do business with greater value in 2014 at WTM than they did the previous year. WTM organizers predicted exhibitors and buyers would conduct 2.5 billion British pounds (nearly $4 billion) in business while at the show, compared to 2.2 billion pounds (nearly $3.5 billion) in 2013.
Rising importance of responsible tourism:
The evident and the most prominent part of WTM was the interest of consumers in responsible tourism. 40% of the industry respondents vouched in favour of responsible tourism as a factor for the growth of their company. The quality of responses from the entire industry underlined the growing importance of responsible travelling at WTM this year.
Growth of peer-to-peer travel:
The above mentioned trend was more of an American practice where travellers used to use peer-to-peer websites for staying abroad while travelling. However, a recent survey reveals that 85% of U.K travellers are willing to try the same. Experts opine a negative impact of such trends on the overall revenue of hotels and resorts.
Impact of Sports tourism:
It was a healthy debate for the global travel industry for a long time. However, the impact of huge sporting events like World Cup is believed to be quite epoch making. 69% of the executives in WTM believed that the booking in Rio de Janerio will see a sharp increase after the recently concluding World Cup Soccer.
Future of travel:
WTM revealed some interesting facts predicting the future of the global travel industry in the next 35 years. While WTM was celebrating its 35th anniversary, there was an attempt to gauge the trends of the industry in 2049. 80% of the industry experts believed traditional passports will be extinct. However, there was still an aura of doubt over the surreal thought of space holidays!
Only time will speak for its favour, however, the trends of the world travel industry keeps its evolution constant. WTM World Travel Trends Report is a detailed account on the trends and market analysis of the world travel industry and this excerpt is a quick analysis of the report.
