World Travel Market (WTM) London has announced that the conference programme for 2025 is now live, with 40 sessions already in place and more to follow.
This year, for the first time, there is a
unifying theme across all stages and sessions: Reimagining Travel in a Changing
World. The umbrella theme allows speakers to share their insights on how travel
and tourism is evolving, from new global policies to shifting traveller
behaviours.
The WTM London 2025
conference programme is designed to build on the success of last year’s event,
which saw a 19% increase in attendance across all tracks and sessions. In
particular, the Sustainability Summit saw a 128% rise in attendee numbers,
while the Marketing and Technology Summits both recorded a 75% increase.
The line-up so far
includes many of WTM London’s established sessions. These include the
anticipated WTM Trends Report in association with Oxford Economics, followed by
a panel discussion on the findings. This takes place in the Yellow Theatre from
11:30 to 12:45 on Tuesday, 4th November.
The WTM Ministers’
Summit, now in its 19th year, is also scheduled for Tuesday 4 November, taking
place in the ICC Maritime Suites from 10:30 to 12:30. This year’s iteration,
moderated by the BBC, will once again gather global tourism leaders to discuss the
future of travel through discussions on policy, strategy, and investment.
The UK’s tourism
minister, Sir Chris Bryant, is part of a panel, From Fortnum to F1, looking at
London’s evolution as an event destination. This takes place in the Yellow
Theatre from 15:00 to 15:45 on Tuesday, 4th November.
WTM London 2025 also
includes a range of standalone summits, aligned with the specific tracks that
the conference programme is structured around. The DEAI Summit, organised by
Uwern Jong, Experientialist-in-Chief, OutThere, will focus on Reclaiming Global
Inclusion. It takes place in the Orange Theatre from 10:45 to 14:00 on
Wednesday, 5 November.
The Technology Summit,
organised by Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, President, T2Impact LLC, will explore The
Technology Case for Empathy in Travel. It takes place from 10:45 to 14:00 in
the Purple Theatre on Wednesday 5 November.
The Geo-economics
Summit, organised by Mark Frary, Author and Consultant, will examine
Macro-economic Shifts in Travel. It takes place from 11:00 to 14:15 in the
Orange Theatre on Tuesday 4 November.
The Marketing Summit,
organised by Matthew Gardiner, Director of Travel Massive, and Tina Charisma,
Director and Founder of Charisma Campaign, will focus on Travel Marketing
Evolution. It takes place from 10:30 to 14:45 in the Yellow Theatre on Thursday
6 November.
The Sustainability
Summit, organised by Tina O’Dwyer, Founder & CEO of The Tourism Space,
titled “Sustainable Tourism is Dead – Long Live Sustainable Tourism”, takes
place from 11:00 to 14:15 in the Purple Theatre on Tuesday 4 November.
Elsewhere, there is a
series of sessions exclusively for media and influencers, covering the impact
of artificial intelligence on travel media. This takes place from 14:00 to
16:30 in the Media Centre on Wednesday 5 November.
Other sessions of
interest include food futurist Tony Hunter exploring the intersection of food,
technology, and travel, with a focus on how Gen Alpha is reshaping gastronomy
tourism. This takes place from 11:30 to 12:15 in the Yellow Theatre on Wednesday
5 November.
Conference Manager,
Brooke Gilbertson, said: “We set a high standard last year, and the team has
embraced the challenge of making the sessions and summits at WTM London 2025
even more appealing. The rate of change in travel is accelerating, which is why
we’ve briefed all our speakers to consider this year’s theme of Reimagining
Travel in a Changing World, and to help attendees find ways to thrive during
this pivotal period for the travel and tourism industry.” -TradeArabia News Service