World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is launching a new Youth Tourism programme looking at trends in the sector.
Youth travel has become an increasingly important part of the global tourism industry, with youth, student and educational travel accounting for more than 20% (207 million) of all international arrivals in 2012 with expected continual growth.
The sector is also estimated to have huge economic potential with a predicated market value of £193 billion by the year 2020.
The WTM Youth Tourism sessions, organised by the World Youth & Student Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation – a global community serving 30 million young travellers worldwide each year, will take place across Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 November – with some of the leading executives and experts from the youth travel sector sharing their experience and insights.
The Tuesday 4 November session, moderated by Director of Starboard Hotels and Chair of STAYWYSE Philip Houghton, will feature a panel of industry experts discussing the emergence of brands within the Hostel sector and how new players are entering the market and challenging established operators.
Speakers include Generator Hostels Executive Chairman Carl Michel, Hostelling International Head of Sales and Marketing Stephen Lane and MENINGER Hotels Managing Director Eric van Dijk.
The Wednesday 5 November session looks to explore the wants and needs of the Millennial Traveller. Four different players from the youth travel space, including Generator Hostels’s Michel, WYSE Director General David Chapman will discuss how to create a dialogue with youth consumers via research, social media, loyalty programmes or CRM.
World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “Youth travel has long been one of the industry’s fastest growing sectors and I’m delighted that we have a dedicated programme for it at WTM, for the first time this year.
“WTM have teamed up with WYSE as they look to promote and develop the multi-billion pound industry by encouraging governments to actively support and develop youth tourism products and services, I believe WTM is the ideal platform to reach out to these segments.
“The programme will bring a new audience to World Travel Market, while also offering existing participants vital information to help grow their businesses”.
