Press Releases

Sustainability concerns spark travel’s ‘quiet revolution’

The travel industry is seeing a ‘quiet revolution’ as consumers are becoming more caring, thoughtful and considerate.

As the world’s travel trade arrives in London for the 30th World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry, Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “There’s a growing realisation that sustainability is absolutely integral to the industry’s future success.

“I make no apologies for sounding over-dramatic when I say that the industry will not have a future at all unless it takes responsible tourism as seriously as customer service, value for money and comfy beds.”

The sea-change in attitudes is due in part to the credit crunch but also issues such as climate change and third world poverty, said Jeffery.

She said the industry has faced many challenges over the past 30 - pandemics, natural disasters and escalating fuel prices.

Jeffery recalled how the September 11 attacks triggered “a new, challenging era” which united the travel trade, “proving to ourselves as much as the rest of the world, that whatever was thrown at the industry we would remain steadfast”.
She added: “It’s over these past two years, amidst the worst global economic downturn in living memory, that World Travel Market has strived even more to help the industry with a different mountain to conquer.

“I hope we’ve assisted business to ride out the storm more effectively by stressing the need to improve efficiency, introduce new skills, new markets and encourage creativity, innovation and, above all, supreme customer value.”

Jeffery reiterated the need for “resolute public sector support” and pointed to tomorrow’s UNWTO Ministers’ Summit, hosted by World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry.

More than 100 ministers and senior aides will address issues such as climate change and poverty reduction.

World Travel Market is also tackling these issues with its World Responsible Tourism Day on Wednesday.

Jeffery concluded: “The future and the next 30 years are there for the taking.
“There’s no shortage of ideas, no lack of vision for the long term forecast of travel and tourism.”

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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.

Almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL - London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.

WTM, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2009, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.

WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a portfolio of other travel industry events including Arabian Travel Market and International Luxury Travel Market.

RE holds more than 500 events in 38 countries throughout Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific covering 47 industry sectors including aerospace & aviation, healthcare, manufacturing and sport & recreation.

In 2008 RE, part of the Reed Elsevier group, brought together more than six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.