World Tourism Awards presented, visitors up at WTM
London: Jorie Butler Kent, Vice Chairman, Abercrombie & Kent and Founder & President, Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy; Oman Sail; and the City of New Orleans were presented with the 2012 World Tourism Awards in a ceremony at World Travel Market, ExCeL Centre, London.
The World Tourism Awards, celebrating its 15th Anniversary, are co-sponsored by American Express, Corinthia Hotels, International Herald Tribune and Reed Travel Exhibitions.
Inaugurated in 1997, the World Tourism Awards was established to recognise “the extraordinary initiatives by individuals, companies, organisations, destinations and attractions for outstanding accomplishments in the travel industry”.
This year the three Award recipients were honored for their dedication to sustainable tourism, preservation of natural and cultural heritage as well as forging tourism partnerships to overcome challenging times.
Presenting the Awards on behalf of the sponsors were Janet Libert, Editor-in-Chief, Executive Travel Magazine, American Express Publishing; Liam Lambert, Chief Operating Officer, Corinthia Hotels; Patrick M. Falconer, Managing Director – UK, Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, The New York Times/International Herald Tribune; and Fiona Jeffrey OBE, Chairman, World Travel Market.
The first award honored Jorie Butler Kent, Vice Chairman of Abercrombie & Kent and Founder & President of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, in recognition for “her development of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, and its commitment to sustainable tourism by sponsoring grassroots projects dedicated to preserving natural habitats, protecting wildlife and promoting the welfare of indigenous communities throughout the world.”
The second award honored Oman Sail, in recognition for “its contribution to tourism development through the sport of sailing to teach youth and empower women with valuable, transferable life skills, and instilling confidence; as well as rekindling Oman’s maritime heritage, raising the country’s global profile as a high-end tourist destination.”
Accepting the Award on behalf of Oman Sail was H.E. Maitha Al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Oman and Chairwoman of Oman Sail.
The third award honored The City of New Orleans, in recognition for “its extraordinary success in the transformation and rebirth of the tourism industry post-Katrina and in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, spurring new economic growth and jobs, to make tourism New Orleans’ largest industry once again.” Accepting the Award on behalf of Hon. Mitch Landrieu, Mayor of the City of New Orleans was Scott Hutcheson, Senior Advisor to The Mayor for Cultural Economy.
WTM 2012 visitors up 5%
London: World Travel Market 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry, was a resounding success with exhibitor invitation visitors up 5% on last year’s event according to WTM secretariat.
WTM is an exhibitor Invite-only day with the aim of allowing exhibitors to hold discussions and negotiations with those buyers that they want to conduct business with.
The first day of WTM 2012 saw almost 8,000 (7,992) exhibitor invitations attend, according to unaudited figures. This compares to 7,614 on the first day of WTM 2011, which was 14% up on the year before.
More than 200 of the exhibitor invitee buyers took part in the highly successful Speed Networking session, which took place before the event opened to allow even more time for exhibitors and buyers from WTM Meridian Club to negotiate and conclude deals at WTM 2012.
Furthermore, more than 30 luxury travel buyers had pre-scheduled business appointments with luxury travel brands in the session – A Taste of ILTM at WTM.
“The WTM Speed Networking session was the busiest ever with more than 200 buyers and 400 exhibitors taking part, setting up a highly successful day and WTM 2012,” said Reed Travel Exhibitions Director World Travel Market Simon Press. Source : WTM
