Tourism is entrusted to the WTM in London to reactivate its main market

Tourism is entrusted to the WTM in London to reactivate its main market

PILAR MARTÍNEZ Malaga Monday, November 7, 2022, 00:04

COMPONENTS

The World Travel Market (WTM) in London has always marked the moment of truth for tourism with the British market, which is the most important international market for Malaga and Andalusian destinations and on which 30% of the hotel business in the region depends. province and passengers at Malaga airport. This fair, one of the three outstanding worldwide, opens its doors today until next Wednesday and does so in a big way, without the limitations of last year due to the pandemic. The 43rd edition of this event will be the first in which normality is resumed. Hence, the tourism sector entrusts itself to the WTM for its DNA of setting trends and being the key thermometer on the evolution of the British market, which has Spain as the first country to travel to to enjoy the holidays and to the Costa del Sol as the preferred destination of the Peninsula.

From the organization of this key event they ensure that the Excel London fairgrounds will have more than 3,000 exhibitors and with a greater presence of "the most consolidated leisure destinations, such as the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal". In addition, they explain that "this edition is expected to facilitate a record number of agreements this year, as the number of new and returning exhibitors increases." Andalusia, the Costa del Sol and the capital of Malaga, as well as the main tourist towns in the province, also disembark at this fair with an unprecedented commitment, putting all the meat on the grill to ensure that 2023 is the year of the reactivation of the British tourism, which until last September, with 1.8 million travellers, was 20 points below the levels registered in 2019 in passenger arrivals at Malaga airport and almost 15% less in tourists staying in hotels and apartments in the province and in overnight stays, staying in four million stays booked by visitors from the United Kingdom.

For this reason, Turismo Costa del Sol has announced the largest investment in its history, more than one million euros, for the recovery of this market. The president of this public company, Francisco Salado, warns that it is a key tourist that must be reconquered at a time when there are numerous uncertainties derived from the new Brexit conditions, which limit the stays of those who reside to 90 days on the Coast and that complicate procedures at airports, in addition to the fact that the pound is weakened and the country is under political instability with several presidents in a few months that impacts the confidence of the British.

Despite this, the Costa del Sol will display all its claims in the Excel in its own 200-square-meter exhibitor next to Andalusia, which will have a 550-square-meter stand, which will be inaugurated today by the president of the Andalusian Government, Juanma Moreno, and the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, Arturo Bernal, who is making his debut in this edition and who shows his confidence in a good response from the main international issuer and his optimism in recovering the volume of the almost three million tourists in this country that were counted in 2019. To do this, it also wants to win new travelers among booming market niches such as digital nomads and energy tourists. The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, will inaugurate the capital's own stand in which the Picasso Year, Expo 2027 and the Davis Cup will act as magnets for British tourism. Some 200 Andalusian tourism professionals have traveled to London to close agreements to improve their position in the United Kingdom. All of them will receive the support of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.

Seventy exhibitors make their debut at the Excel venue in this great appointment with force. So much so that seventy exhibitors make their debut at this Excel fairgrounds in search of the succulent British tourist. "The participation of new organizations is essential for the advancement of the tourism sector," says the director of the WTM fair, Juliette Losardo, who welcomes the Brazilian tourism office Embratur, which is joined by destinations as diverse as Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda. Exhibitors participating in the fair for the first time include the Uganda Tour Operators Association and representatives from the Azadi International Tourism Organization, who will present hotels, eco-safari, villages and climbing tours available in Iran. It also highlights that there will be a greater presence of the most consolidated leisure destinations, such as Spain, the Caribbean and Portugal. In an edition in which Saudi Arabia is the main partner of the World Travel Market for the second consecutive year, the organizers focus on the success of the 'International Hub', where some of the most outstanding new participants are found, with world representatives hotel giants like Hilton and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. In this space, the Yalago bed bank, which is part of the Emirates group, the transport rental company OK Mobility and the destination management company Intrepid will participate for the first time. The WTM evolves and will mark the future of the world's tourist destinations and the trends of new travelers.

TOPICS

TopicsFrancisco de la Torre, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, Reyes Maroto, Junta de Andalucía, Malaga Airport, London, Malaga (Province), United Kingdom, Brexit, Hotels, Tourism, Tourists, World Travel Market

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