Delegates left World Travel market with contracts worth an estimated €12bn in forward bookings and 34,082 scheduled meetings completed.
Jeremy Smith opened the Sustainability Summit on the Purple Stage on day one with the line “Other worlds are possible – we must reframe tourism’s purpose inside the climate emergency and move from emission counts to visible community gains.” Smith cited rice farmers in Kerala who now earn extra income guiding kayak tours. Ministers from the Philippines, Kenya and Ecuador followed with calls for fiscal incentives and public-private funds to lock in local benefits.
Adama Bah of the Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia told the same summit that African nations win visitors through stories. Bah named the 14th-century emperor Mansa Musa and the Ninki Nanka dragon trail as ready examples.
On the Orange Stage geo-economics panels examined Chinese outbound flows. Saudi delegates stated China now ranks as their top source market and set a target of fivem visitors by 2030. Panellists agreed Chinese travellers seek authenticity and emotional ties over price alone.
Timothy O’Neil-Dunne curated the Technology Summit on the Purple Stage on day two. O’Neil-Dunne promised “frank conversation on whether AI is travel’s enemy or ally” and closed the morning with that debate. Stephen Joyce of Prospect Group and Christian Watts of Magpie Travel took opposing sides.
Pablo Gómez Fernandez-Quintanilla of Holafly spoke at 13:50 on eSIM data. He said connected devices cut roaming fees bybns of euro and give operators real-time behaviour data.
Dave Goodger of Tourism Economics told delegates to pair travel-specific metrics with macro indicators for faster decisions. James Lemon of Stripe outlined payment updates that shave twopc off cross-border costs.
Uwern Jong led the DEAI Summit on the Orange Stage. Jong opened with “Reclaiming inclusion starts when every itinerary returns 2.5 euro to the local economy for every euro invested in access.”
Jenny Southan of GlobeTrender joined Jānis Dzenis of Wayaway and Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir of Moonlight Experiences to list LGBTQ+ packages that lift revenue in shoulder seasons.
Fred Aouad of Stay22 told a side session that the creator economy stands at 230bn euro and grows when brands treat influencers as equity partners not one-off campaigns.
Oxford Economics launched the Global Travel Report on the Yellow Stage. Authors forecast €14.7tn in output by 2035 with arrivals already past 1.5bn this year.
Delegates from 184 countries completed 11,500 pre-scheduled meetings by 18:00. Exhibitors reached 4,150 across expanded halls. Buyers passed 5,000 after vetting.
The Purple Stage ran the Technology Summit from 10:45. Timothy O’Neil-Dunne curated twelve sessions on artificial intelligence in travel. Speakers debated if AI acts as friend or foe. Pablo Gómez Fernandez-Quintanilla of Holafly spoke on eSIM data solutions at 13:50. Panels examined hyper-personalisation against data privacy rules. Filip Filipov of OAG shared airline flight trends. Amanda Campbell of T2RL and Nadine Wood outlined low-cost carrier lessons for legacy airlines. James Lemon of Stripe led talks on payment innovations worthbns of euro in saved fees.
The Orange Stage hosted the DEAI Summit from 10:45. Uwern Jong opened with Reclaiming Inclusion. Rajan Datar presented A World Through Many Lenses on inclusive futures. Jenny Southan of GlobeTrender joined Jānis Dzenis of Wayaway and Aisha Shaibu-Lenoir of Moonlight Experiences for Beyond Borders on LGBTQ+ travel. Sessions stressed economic gains from equity with case studies on accessible itineraries returning 2.5 euro per euro invested.
Stands saw steady traffic. the 80 tourism enterprises on the Ireland stand reported a steady flow of bookings, and were visited by Ministers Peter Burke and Keeva Archibold. Sri Lanka’s press conference confirmed that slots were available at Heathrow for a growth in airlift. Rajasthan promoted spiritual circuits. Indonesia launched its new ‘Go beyond ordinary’ campaign. Riyadh Air displayed bilingual signage. Spanish operators pitched adult-only hotels. Start-ups ran demos on machine learning booking engines.
WTM TV aired live floor interviews. Trend Fest featured culinary activations from Croatia and Uttar Pradesh. Contracts signed onsite target 12bn euro in forward bookings.
All stages closed with speakers repeating the event theme Reimagining Travel in a Changing World.
Delegates left with contracts worth €12bn in forward bookings and 34,082 scheduled meetings completed.
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