Gargantuan trade show in London holds the ticket to future travel - global tourism economy weighs in at $525 billion and accounts for 220 million jobs worldwide by Jane Woolbridge
LONDON - When your India tour includes a hot-air balloon ride over the Taj Mahal, your travel agent suggests the Balearic Iles for your next golf holiday or that safari you've been considering adds a spa visit, it all may have started at London's annual World Travel Market. For 26 years, tourism officials, tour operators, travel packagers, travel agents and press have gathered here each November to swap the latest industry news -- hot hotels, emerging destinations, new suppliers. Though individual travelers can't attend -- the show is open only to the industry -- what happens at World Travel Market and similar trade events impacts vacation options and prices. ''All the senior people are here,'' said Roger Mahal, CEO of U.S.-based tour operator Sita World Travel. Among this year's 49,000 attendees were CEOs, tourism ministers -- even supermodel Claudia Schiffer and peace activist Terry Waite -- all angling for attention for destinations. ''A country comes to London to tell the world that it's open for tourism business,'' said David Browne, London and European editor for eTurboNews, an online travel trade publication.
No wonder: The global tourism economy weighs in at $525 billion and accounts for 220 million jobs worldwide, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, an industry group. With growth expected at 5 to 6 percent a year, tourism is a quick way to jump-start a developing economy, experts say.
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