Boris, Brexit and Business Top the Agenda for Day One at WTM London

Share this
Greece’s Press Conference – Pictured Harry Theocharis Minister for Tourism

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the achievements of the country’s tourism industry in a welcome message to WTM London, the world’s largest travel trade event taking place today (Monday 4 November) at ExCeL London.

Johnson spoke of the UK’s success story in the 10 years since he first opened the event, when he was then Mayor of London. Since then, he said, tourism had boomed “from Skye to Skegness, from Brecon Beacons to Bognor”.

Johnson added: “Our capital city London has become the number one tourist destination in the world. The British Museum attracts more visitors than one European country I am too diplomatic to identify.”

Following Johnson’s message to the WTM Leaders’ Lunch, Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, took to the stage.

She highlighted tourism’s £68 billion contribution to the UK economy. The industry, she said, accounted for 1.6 million jobs and last year, the UK attracted 38 million visitors who spent £22.7 billion.

Morgan acknowledged Brexit was an issue for the industry. She told the audience: “We are going to be leaving the European Union, but we do not want to put up borders that keep people in or out. We want to make it as frictionless as possible to visit – EEAA or Swiss nationals will not need a visa.”

Later that day Atout France and easyJet signed a major three-year partnership at WTM London to boost the numbers of British and German visitors to France.

The deal follows the success of a similar three-year partnership which focused on increasing numbers from the UK to French destinations.

The new agreement will see the airline and the tourism agency promoting destinations across easyJet’s French network and will have an annual budget of €1 million.

WTM London’s Headline partner Sri-Lanka also took to the stage during the event outlining its objective to ‘build back better’ six months after the terror attacks that decimated its tourism industry.

Her Excellency Manisha Gunasekera High Commissioner – Sri Lanka High Commission in London, commenting that : “Exactly one year ago at WTM we launched So Sri Lanka, our brand identity, which has now become so much identified with Sri Lanka.”

She added: “The message emanating from Sri Lanka is that it’s business as usual. We’re resilient, united and we have made a steady recovery.”

Also speaking to an extremely crowded room at WTM London, Greek National Tourism Organisations, Minister of Tourism Harry Theoharis explained their 10-year plan for tourism, which embraces sustainability, the destination announced at WTM today.

Theoharis explained: “Our vision is Greece as a full experience as we’ve never seen before… Greece is more than the sun and sea, the beach and ancient monuments.”

He said quality, sustainability and authenticity were to be the cornerstones of the new plan, with an ultimate ambition to make Greece “one of the top global sustainable destinations.”

He added: “It’s about increasing the ceiling [on arrivals] but also trying to widen the shoulder seasons and tourism destinations.”

Cheap Flights from London

DestinationDeparture atReturn atFind tickets
Tirana6 December 20248 December 2024Tickets from 31
Belfast2 January 20258 January 2025Tickets from 33
Edinburgh16 December 202417 December 2024Tickets from 33
Agadir22 January 202526 January 2025Tickets from 40
Frankfurt20 November 202423 November 2024Tickets from 42
Belgrade19 November 202422 November 2024Tickets from 42
Barcelona4 December 20248 December 2024Tickets from 44
Milan13 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 44
Luxembourg11 December 202415 December 2024Tickets from 45
Marrakech16 December 202421 December 2024Tickets from 48
Plovdiv5 December 20247 December 2024Tickets from 48
Sarajevo1 December 20243 December 2024Tickets from 48
Dublin16 December 202421 December 2024Tickets from 49
Szczecin7 March 202510 March 2025Tickets from 51
Valencia4 December 20248 December 2024Tickets from 53
Madrid5 December 20248 December 2024Tickets from 55
Rome16 January 202521 January 2025Tickets from 55
Paris25 January 202528 January 2025Tickets from 57
Tenerife18 January 202521 January 2025Tickets from 58
Riga26 November 202429 November 2024Tickets from 59
Aberdeen11 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 60
Geneva2 February 20257 February 2025Tickets from 60
Gdansk2 December 20246 December 2024Tickets from 61
Krakow26 November 202429 November 2024Tickets from 61
Istanbul20 January 202525 January 2025Tickets from 62
Glasgow2 January 20256 January 2025Tickets from 62
Vienna6 January 20258 January 2025Tickets from 62
Sevilla12 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 63
Athens24 January 202526 January 2025Tickets from 63
Lisbon12 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 64
Venice13 December 202416 December 2024Tickets from 64
Stockholm20 November 202425 November 2024Tickets from 64
Prague12 November 202415 November 2024Tickets from 64
Sofia29 November 20241 December 2024Tickets from 65
Pisa7 December 20248 December 2024Tickets from 65

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 5 / 5. Vote count: 1

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Author: Editor