The World Travel Market 2023

Let's face it, we all have aspirations in life. In 2021 we started up a travel Instagram page in the hopes of influencing people on their next holiday destination, now 2 years later we've decided to make this into our career and become full-time influencers. When you get to a certain stage, you can hit the wall; followers become difficult to gain, connections become impossible to make and posts are challenging to create. Well, that's where the World Travel Market fits perfectly into your life if you're looking to grow and develop your business.

We went to the WTM 2023 not knowing anything about the event. It was hard to research the event as there wasn't much information about it: how to prepare for the World Travel Market, what do we need to take to the World Travel Market, what should I expect from the World Travel Market. We had many unanswered questions before visiting the WTM, but don't be afraid, we will give you some great tips to answer any of your questions. We recommend if you are an influencer, blogger or content creator in the travel industry then sign up as a 'media' visitor. This gives you access to the WTM Connect Me platform, as well as certain conferences, talks and seminars during the event.

Firstly we have to start by saying WOW, what an event this was! This event was filled with excitement, potential, creativity and culture. We made so many invaluable connections - we met people we wouldn't be able to in the 'regular world.' Each country, business or service had a 'stand' spread across the ginormous conference hall of ExCel London, where you can freely walk up to the stand and gain information about the various stalls.

Here are the facts about the WTM London 2023:

• 43,727 attended the WTM.
• 3,875 exhibitors.
• 29,077 meetings were pre-booked.
• 99,355 digital business connections were made.
• 1,976 representatives of media attended.

Before you visit:

Our first tip to prepare would be to pre-book meetings. Once your application is approved, you'll be given access to the WTM Connect Me platform - here you can see who is attending the event, whether that's a tourism board, media, travel related company or service. We pre-booked 8 meetings during our 3 day visit to WTM London, we would advice doing roughly this amount, we wouldn't overwhelm ourselves with too many meetings as it's also great to have time to explore the market. Don't forget - meetings can run over. There were a few times where we ended up talking a lot longer than expected and others when we finished much sooner, don't back-to-back book yourself up with meetings as it may look unprofessional running late to meetings. The WTM is HUGE, so make sure you allow yourself getting from one corner to the other for your meetings. Bear in mind that meetings can be rescheduled at any time during the convention, so be sure to keep up-to-date with your live schedule.

Secondly, we would strongly advise you to create some awesome business cards and print at least 200. Yes, even in 2023 business cards are still used. Even though WTM advertises a paperless system to making digital business connections, you would not believe how many people asked us for our business card (luckily we had some awesome cards created. There were also small competitions at many stalls where you would drop your business card into a pot and you would win prizes - who doesn't love prizes.

Stand out from the crowd, create a compelling brand voice and be remembered. Create a unique t-shirt for you and your team to wear, some personalised backpacks to carry around your freebies or make a lanyard for you and your team. These little touches will help you stand out from the crowd and give your brand that memorable piece which is needed to have a lasting effect on potential connections. 

Pre-book your hotel to avoid high costs closer to the time. As expected, it can be very expensive to stay in London. Costs for hotels will increase the closer to the time so as soon as you've received your ticket to the WTM then get looking to book your hotels. Don't stay too far outside of London - we got a cheap hotel but spend over £40 a day on public transport just to get to the event. Check out some hotels in London before you go!