Monday 6th November 2017
The Minister of Tourism for Mauritius, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority’s Chairman and Director are currently visiting the United Kingdom to attend World Travel Market in London, from Monday 6th November to Wednesday 8th November 2017.
World Travel Market is held annually at London’s ExCel Centre and is the leading global event for the travel industry. The vibrant three-day business-to-business event presents a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to the UK and international travel professionals. The event, which attracts approximately 50,000 visitors, provides an opportunity for global travel trade to meet, network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends all under one roof.
On the first day of World Travel Market, the Minister and the Chairman attended the prestigious WTM Leaders’ Lunch with 200 of the travel industry’s most senior members in attendance. Leading MEP and former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt headlined the lunch a nd was interviewed on the future shape of Europe by News Anchor and BBC World News Presenter, Aaron Heslehurst.
On Monday afternoon, the Minister, Chairman and Director all attended the World Travel Leaders seminar on what to expect from the UK travel market in 2018. Hosted by experts in all areas of the UK markets, the talk looked at matters such as Brexit, UK currency and Global Politics as factors affecting the UK travel market.
Finally, the Minister, Chairman and Director all attended a specialist talk on the innovative concepts in the destination wedding industry. The luxury wedding panel shared the trends in the sector, best implementation techniques, and forecast destination romance tendencies for the next 10 years.
To end the first day, the Mauritius delegation hosted a drinks reception at a nearby venue for 40 guests. The event provided the perfect opportunity for media, trade, tour operators and on-stand partners to network with MTPA.
Following the drinks reception, MTPA attended an evening hosted by Heritage Resorts Mauritius at Searcy’s at the Gherkin; an elegant cocktail bar located on the iconic landmark’s 40th floor.
The next two days will see MTPA, Chairman and Director meet with a variety of British media outlets as well as airlines and tour operators, with the aim of promoting the destination of Mauritius into 2018 ahead of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
For more information, please visit www.tourism-mauritius.mu
Tuesday 7th November 2017
On Tuesday 7th November 2017, the Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, the Chairman, and the Director completed another successful day of meetings at World Travel Market, held in London. To begin, the Chairman and the Director held a meeting with Dive magazine to discuss upcoming events on the island and in particular the much-anticipated 50th anniversary of independence celebrations in 2018.
Following the media meeting, the Minister joined the Chairman and the Director to attend a World Travel Market session, which looked at ‘Maximising Revenue in the Luxury Travel Space’. Hosted by Founder of Inspired Citizen, Anthony Berklich, the session explored what travellers are looking for in order to make their experience unforgettable.
In the afternoon, the Minister attended the ‘2017 UNWTO & WTM Ministers’ Summit’. The summit focussed on sustainable development and management of tourism, the challenges of congestion, strengthening effective engagement between tourism and local communities, how to address the public perception of tourism, and how to use tourism as an effective tool to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. During this time, the Chairman and Director continued to meet with trade and consumer media and tour key tour operator stakeholders, including Secret Escapes, Diver Magazine, and Lonely Planet Traveller to discuss upcoming opportunities to promote the destination.
Towards the end of the afternoon, the Minister and the Chairman attended a World Travel Market session on ‘Globalisation of Travel: How Technology is Breaking Down Barriers and Positively Impacting Our World’. Hari Nair, Global Senior Vice President at Expedia Media Solutions, shared his research, insights and examples on technologies that are advancing the globalisation of travel.
In the evening, MTPA attended a drinks reception hosted by Attitude Resorts along with other key partners.
For more information, please visit www.tourism-mauritius.mu
