WTM Latin America 2015, the annual event which brings the world to Latin America and promotes Latin America to the world, has experienced an impressive 37% increase in senior industry travel buyers attending last week’s travel trade event, firmly cementing its position in the travel industry.
The extremely successful third edition of WTM Latin America which took place at Expo Centre Norte Sao Paulo from the 22 – 24 April, alongside the 43rd Braztoa Business Event, opened its doors to more than 5,500 travel trade visitors this year, a 21% increase on 2014, un-audited figures reveal.
Amongst the thousands of visitors that flooded in, almost 1,500 buyers and hosted buyers from Brazil, Latin America and rest of the world were there to negotiate business deals, make new contacts and network with the array of destinations, service providers and product managers on the exhibition floor.
WTM Latin America will generate business deals in excess of US$341 million (£206 million) from deals done over the three days of the event and in the months that follow.
This massive amount of business that is expected to be generated can, in part, be accredited to this huge increase in travel buyers that attended the event, as well as the array of great networking opportunities that were available for delegates to take advantage of.
WTM Latin America Speed Networking, which acted as a catalyst for an array of big money deals, was once again a hit for Hosted Buyers and Exhibitors.
Fernando Piris, an exhibitor from Martin Travel, Paraguay expressed his appreciation for the networking event, commenting: “I visited 21 potential buyers which have given me a great chance of generating new business”.
New for this year, WTM Latin America 2015 hosted a dedicated Business Travel area in partnership with ALAGEV (Latin American Association of Event Managers and Corporate Travel) on the exhibition floor which hosted global travel management companies (TMCs), airlines, hotels and technology suppliers. Hundreds of business travel buyers flocked to their stands over the three days to do business.
Reifer de Souza Junior, Sales Director of Maringá Turismo, one of the largest TMC’s in Brazil and representative of Radius Travel said: “We’re here for the first time and I can already say that this is an event that’s fundamental for doing new business and establishing partnerships. We had many meetings today and we were able to perceive the high level of professionalism of those who are getting in touch with us”.
The overall 21% increase in visitors also included a massive 43% rise in media (590) all looking for the latest, most comprehensive, insightful and story-friendly news, research and reports.
Lawrence Reinisch, Exhibition Director, WTM Latin America commented: “We’re absolutely delighted with the visitor, buyer and media attendance figures for this year. These figures demonstrate the power and importance of WTM Latin America to the industry and the role it plays in facilitating business for the sector.
“We truly believe that the move to Expo Center Norte for 2015, facilitated this increase, making it more convenient for both local and international travel trade to attend the event, and we look forward to WTM Latin America 2016 being held at Expo Center Norte for the second year running.”
WTM Latin America 2016 will take place from 29 – 31 March.
