The brightest, busiest and best stands at World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry, have been honoured today (Monday 9 November) at ExCeL-London.
Winners were chosen in six categories after extensive tours of the exhibition by a panel of expert judges. A seventh stand received a special commendation.
Judges said the best examples were those that were proactive at drawing in delegates during World Travel Market – the premier global event for the travel industry.
Other key criteria were the ways conference-goers could navigate stands, presentation of the stand and staff, and creative use of space and technology.
The judges for the WTM Best Stand Awards were: Bill Richards, Senior Partner at Tram Research; Annalisa Hammond, Director at Lime Marketing; John Blaskey, Managing Director at Exhibiting Agency; and Victoria Wolfe, Professional Development Manager at ABTA.
The winners were:
- Best stand for doing business: Hotelbeds (GV5400)
- Best stand personnel: Rwanda Tourism Board (AF2600)
- Best stand feature: Islas Canarias/Canary Islands (EM720)
- Most innovative stand in technology & online travel region: - Evolution (TT4095)
- Best stand for interacting with travel agents: New York State Division of Tourism (NA2200)
- Best stand design: Andorra Tourism (EM484)
Special commendation: Gobierno de Espana Ministerio de Fomento (EM480)
(Spanish government ministry of public works and transport)
What the judges said for each winner:
Best stand for doing business: Hotelbeds (GV5400)
“This had the best atmosphere and was beautifully designed with strong graphics. There were three degrees of potential engagement - you could skirt around the front, or move into the inner sanctum or the upstairs level for more serious discussions. It was pretty damn perfect – what a stand should be at a B2B show – and it was busy.”
Best stand personnel: Rwanda Tourism Board (AF2600)
“The staff were all in national dress, very friendly, vibrant and culturally authentic. It was cohesive, cosy and manageable. The staff were passionate about accessible tourism and engaged with passing traffic.”
Best stand feature: Islas Canarias/Canary Islands (EM720)
“This was busy and bright, with promotional costumed characters, a juice bar and a vapour curtain – an excellent use of technology.”
Most innovative stand in technology & online travel region: Evolution (TT4095)
“The staff were coordinated in pink and the stand looked very technological with its metallic and fuchsia design. There were little ‘e’ costumed characters. The large screens were being used to demonstrate the technology well and it looked contemporary and attractive.”
Best stand for interacting with travel agents: New York State Division of Tourism (NA2200)
“This had good, approachable, well-labelled desks with friendly personnel who talked to us as we went by. There was clear use of signage and a sociable coffee bar which was a good use of hospitality. They offered lots of help and leaflets and there was plenty of space in which to move around.”
Best stand design: Andorra Tourism (EM484)
“For a small country and presumably small budget, it was eye-catching, busy, light and bright. You can tell immediately it is famous for skiing, with the aluminium frames holding images of mountains and activity sports. There is no doubt about what they do – and the tables were busy.”
Special commendation: Gobierno de Espana Ministerio de Fomento (EM480)
(Spanish government ministry of public works and transport)
“It has a very eye-catching, attractive feature with a projected image on what looks like the inside of a jet engine, making you feel as if you are going down a track.”
World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “The stands at World Travel Market are always colourful and vibrant and WTM 2009 has been no exception.
“We are delighted with the stand designs for this year, the winners demonstrate the best in business to business exhibition marketing, helping to generate business and interest from the delegates.”
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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.
