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An ever growing list of the events in the travel trade, tourism and visitor attraction industry that you might just want to visit.
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Your guide to all travel and tourism industry trade events.
Trade Shows / Marketplaces
Hosted at the Excel in London each November, the biggest showcase of global travel and attraction brands in the calendar - put your comfy shoes on, bring your own lunch, remember your QR code business card and get mingling. It's pretty much the place to buy and sell travel.
Part of the same group of conferences as WTM, the Arabian Travel Market is hosted annually in Dubai at the end of April. A huge global focus and spotlight on entrepreneurship, this is seen as the gateway to the global market and an opportunity to see innovation in travel from around the world. The format is an exhibition floor, networking with a lot of business done, as well as speaking seminars and workshops.
ETOA boasts over 1000 members and connects operators selling travel in European destinations across it's trade association. Their Britain and Ireland marketplace is their flagship event and whilst not cheap is an epic place to do business with it's speed networking format. This is the one for you if you're looking for new product or distribution.
Hosted in Berlin and usually back to back with Arival Europe's event this is a not so mini version of WTM and is very sales focussed. If you're looking for product this is well worth a visit but can be a little overwhelming. Their aim is to showcase how the future of travel is being shaped. Ultimately it's a massive trade show.
GEM is the annual trade event of ETOA and is an exclusive lead generation event for its membership looking to contract new product as well as listen to insight driven sessions.
Over two days, usually in June in London this event provides a great balance of trade focussed meetings, knowledge and learning sessions as well as operational and innovation discussions.
This event is hosted in Copenhagen, usually in February and brings together buyers and suppliers focussed on the Nordic region, surprise! It is largely the most popular B2B workshop for tourism businesses focussed on the region. The event over two days attracts tour operators, agents, wholesalers, OTAs and DMCs to do business and learn from one another.
VisitBritain runs a whole host of destination focussed events throughout the year, with the hero event Destination Britain Middle East & Asia hosted in India for UK inbound buyers from GCC, India, China, South Korea and Japan to meet with suppliers. Their roadshow events also take place in destinations including the Americas, Brazil, Australia and Spain, with workshops across Europe and China.
Launched in 2023, this event is designed for buyers looking to contract new product, and grow Scotland's share of UK inbound tourism sustainably.
Tour operators and travel buyers can meet with local tourism businesses, experiences and attractions across 250 buyers from 23 countries.
This is Northern Ireland's flagship event and allows suppliers to showcase their tourism businesses to buyers from key international markets, all of which are pre-qualified. Workshop appointments run over 1.5 days for meetings and contracting to take place.
Immediately after Meet The Buyer, this two day event is designed to provide a global platform for over 10,000 appointments between Irish suppliers and international buyers. Run in conjunction with Tourism Ireland the event showcases the best of Ireland tourism, experiences and attractions.
A global inbound showcase of Irish product hosted in London.
A worldwide expo which attracts industry insiders looking to do new business. Heavily focussed on amusement parks and theme parks from tech to infrastructure.
Designed for corporate travel professionals looking to negotiate, confirm and win new business. Hosted at the Excel including conference speaker seminars and hosted buyer program.
Membership + FAM trips
UKInbound is the membership body for you guessed it, inbound tourism. Their annual conference is epic and includes a good mix of networking and speaker sessions. And their monthly fam trips are always really popular.
The National Farm Attractions Network is the membership body for farm park attractions primarily. It's a close knit community and centres around an annual conference and regular fam trips.
BIAZA (British & Irish Association of Zoos & Aquariums) is the one all about animal attractions – showcasing the zoo and aquarium sector. They host one annual event.
The membership body for leisure parks and piers with over 300 members. This is a welcoming community with an annual conference and loads of great fam trips. Headed up by the lovely Paul Kelly this is a friendly and welcoming community, ideal for operators who want to learn about best practice from each other and raise customer experiences.
The membership body hosts events throughout the year including the President's dinner in September and policy roundtable with the Tourism Alliance also in September.
Conferences
Arival is also a membership body but you don't have to be a pro member to buy tickets for their events. Hosted in the US, Asia and Europe with 3-4 events in total a year, they dub themselves as 'the best part of travel' and are well known for their incredible line up of speakers, seminars, workshops and breakouts. This is less about sales, although the networking lounge facilitates a lot of meetings, it's more about learning and absorbing insights, trends and techniques to grow your business.
This is a smaller, one day event but jam packed with value across it's speaker sessions and panels. They are usually case study lead and the roundtable event is friendly, welcoming and offers good networking too.
Usually hosted at Drayton Manor in the West Midlands.
VAC is a very operational event and offers great value to those looking for data, insights and strategy around business growth, the green agenda and operational efficiencies. It is also really strong in the areas of innovation and product development as well as technology solutions, and digital marketing.
Usually hosted at the QEII Centre in London
Travolution is a highly regarding industry voice and alongside the annual summit hosts industry awards and breakfasts. Their events attraction senior industry and non-industry speakers providing an engaging balance of insights and inspiration. Headed up by Kate Harden-England who is a power for good in the sector.
They host a breakfast at WTM and also host a startups and innovation summit.
Designed with a focus on Latin America and usually hosted in Spain, this is titled as a global meeting place for tourism professionals focussed on both inbound and outbound travel, tech, accommodation, product development and pricing.
Hosted in Seville, TIS includes an exhibitor showcase, largely of travel tech brands, and a packed schedule of speaker sessions with a focus on European operators.
This is the most popular event for group travel operators across the British Aisles running trips and tours.
With 250 stands showcasing tours, experiences and hotels, this is a great place to immerse yourself in new product and get inspired about destinations you don't yet work with or should be doing more with.
Typically hosted in Birmingham at The NEC.
TPC attracts a good crowd and is designed specifically for those in ticketing tech or managing tickets in the attractions and experiences sector. Definitely a lilt towards live entertainment and theatre but well worth a trip if you're looking to up your knowledge or find a new tech partner.
This does what it says on the tin, and if you haven't visited before it's well worth the trip. Showcasing the latest innovation and tech being used to engage audiences as well as great keynote and case study speakers, if you're looking to do more in one of the fastest growing categories in travel, this is the show for you.
Tourism Alliance hosts an annual insights conference and parliamentary reception. The event is ticketed and designed to highlight the stats and trends that should inform industry policy.
This event is at the forefront of trends and insights and hosted in Barcelona. It's a great opportunity to hear trail blazer speakers and learn from the best. It also includes a startup pitch contest.
The place to keep up with the people, insights and tech evolution in the travel space. Another Excel event running at the same time as the Business Travel Show. Backed by the Phocuswright family so you know the data and knowledge will be second to none and coming from those truly in the know.
A gathering for immersive experience creators to meet, share ideas and network. A fantastic line up of speakers and case studies.
Meetups
Travel Massive is a global network of meetups run locally by ambassadors who want to bring together folks from the travel sector. You can find your local meetup on the website, and also explore their premium membership and directory access.
CONNECT events provide a brilliant in person and virtual opportunity to meet, learn and connect with other operators, suppliers and companies that support the tour space. Meetups centre around incredible locations and venues, proper immersive learning and inspiration, as well as the opportunity to try local experiences first hand. Events also include conferences and business retreats alongside the regional meetups.
US Market
A US hosted event, run by the US Travel Association and is big-time. A mix of networking, exhibitor stands, 1-1 appointments and speaker sessions, this is the place to grow your internationally reach and has a focus on the US inbound market.
Phocuswright are the leaders in industry data, trends and key talking points. Join for a wealth of leading speaker sessions and topics spanning digitisation, sustainability, investment and lots more. They host US and Asia events.
Attend IAAPA in the USA to be the first to experience new tech and innovation demonstrations being unveiled as well as the latest industry insights. Join the thought provoking speaker sessions and arrange meetings with top global suppliers from across the attractions industry. They are also home to the IAAPA hall of fame.
Known as the real pro's of global travel and tourism data and trends. The Skift Global event has been running in New York for over a decade. Popular with industry stalwarts as well as start up innovators wanting to be the next trail blazers.
Arival hosts it's flagship event in the US annually.
Social Enterprise
Women in Travel is a social enterprise with the mission of fostering gender inclusion in travel and tourism. They run a calendar of online and in person events including the IWTT forum and WIT awards.
Media Events
TTG hosts a range of events including their breakfast agenda with PWC, annual awards and luxury product focussed events.
TravMedia's IMM is an international meet the media event with locations around the world for travel brands to meet with the press to arrange fam trips and features.
I'm Catherine Warrilow and I'm a brand comms advisor. I help travel and tourism businesses to sort out the messy middle between what they do and what their customer actually wants.
Contact me if you want me to find the opportunities to connect more customers that are hiding in your brand strategy.
Virtual Events
📆 Events by month
January
NFAN (annual conference)
BALPPA (AGM)
February
March
Arival (Berlin)
April
May
June
BIAZA (annual conference)
BALPPA (summer conference)
Arival (Asia)
Women in Travel CIC (IWTTF & Awards)
July
IAAPA (Asia Expo)
August
It's holiday time ⛱
September
UKInbound (annual conference)
BALPPA (Autumn conference)
Arival (US)
IAAPA (Europe Expo)
October
November
Arival (UK)
IAAPA (US Expo)
December
It's Christmas 🎄
Monthly
NFAN (FAM trips)
Arival (webinars)
🌎 Events by location
UK
NFAN (annual conference)
BALPPA (AGM)
British Tourism & Travel Show (BTTS)
BIAZA (annual conference)
National Attraction Marketing Conference
Women in Travel CIC (IWTTF & Awards)
UKInbound (annual conference)
BALPPA (Autumn conference)
Global European Marketplace (GEM)
The Annual National Conference of Visitor Attractions (VAC)
World Travel Market London (WTM)
Arival (UK)
US
IAAPA (US Expo)
Asia
Asia Amusements & Attractions Expo (AAA)
IAAPA (Asia Expo)
Europe
Arival (Berlin)
BALPPA (summer conference)
IAAPA (Europe Expo)
Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS)
Ireland
Tourism Northern Ireland Meet The Buyer
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