Inside WTM: One Year with Event Director Chris Carter‑Chapman
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What is World Travel Market and why is it considered the world’s biggest travel event?
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Hello, everybody. Welcome along to the Event Industry News Podcast with me, James Dixon. Wishing all a very good morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever or whenever indeed you tune in to today's podcast from. Um, and yeah, excited to talk about uh uh uh the you know sort today's podcast subject and meet today's podcast guest. Joining me on the link today is Chris Carter Chapman. Chris is the event director for our Arguably the world's biggest travel event brand, world travel market. Chris was appointed as event director in May twenty twenty five. So we're about twelve months into pose now. Chris, firstly, a very warm welcome to the podcast. How are you today?
Thank you, James. I'm delighted to be here. It's lovely to be on the show.
Thank you very much. Yeah, and um so yeah, a a year in post. Um give us the headlines first of all for any of the event professionals who you listen to the podcast regularly, but who may not be familiar with World Travel Market as a brand and as an event.
So I think headlines um having been in post for a year is that I have significantly less hair uh than when I took this job uh in May last year. World Travel Market is, I think, in a in a category of its own in terms of scale and size, and certainly the largest event that I've ever worked on uh in the various events, careers, uh events career I've had over the years. And I think World Travel Market um Celebrated its 46th uh anniversary at the last edition, and that included the online uh version we did during COVID. So it has significant heritage um and history over that period, obviously launching as it did uh in 1980. And it's been in multiple venues, it's been in Earl's Court, it's been in Olympia, it's now in its home um of Excel, where we take
All 125,000 uh square meters that are now available thanks to uh Excel's expansion. And uh WTM is the world's most influential travel and tourism event and um you know brings representation from all corners of the globe. Uh there's over a hundred and eighty countries represented, um, and there aren't that many more countries in the world, so we've almost got a full house.
How does WTM’s 46‑year heritage and venue evolution shape the show’s scale?
Mm. Uh and as I say, over that forty six year history it has evolved to be a crucial meeting point in the events calendar for travel professionals um from right across the world.
How did it compare to previous events that you'd worked on when you you you were you daunted by the the the challenge, were you excited by it? Were you all of those or both of those things?
Um excited is one word. Um, and and yes, I think daunted to a degree. So, World Travel Market, um, I would say encapsulates all of the challenges that I've faced uh in the various sectors I've worked in and the various events that I've managed all in one. Um, you've obviously got a very complex build uh when it comes to uh your your floor space and your Your show plan. You've got lots of different areas that need to seamlessly come together, and you need to provide a journey for visitors that is clear and comprehensive so that they don't feel too overwhelmed by the sheer size and scale of the show. So getting to grips with all of that is obviously key very early on, understanding a lot of those longstanding relationships with key stakeholders in the industry, whether that be associations, clients, partners, and indeed our visitors, and the work we do with government, the work we do with the United Nations um and other transnational bodies, there was a lot to sink my teeth into last May.
Hmm. When it comes to that customer journey at the event itself, because of its sheer scale Is it feasible for for for people to attend the event in the way that they might attend smaller trade events relevant to their you know the different business sectors where some people may leave a certain element of their visit to the event uh uh in down to serendipity.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is World Travel Market and why is it considered the world’s biggest travel event?
0:00–2:44
2
How does WTM’s 46‑year heritage and venue evolution shape the show’s scale?
2:44–5:44
3
What tools and pre‑event communications does WTM provide to help attendees plan their visit?
5:44–8:25
4
How does the new WTM Travel Tech zone improve the buyer experience?
8:25–11:40
5
What transport and logistics strategies are used to move thousands of visitors around Excel?
11:40–14:15
6
How much economic impact does WTM generate for London and the UK?
14:15–18:19
7
How is WTM increasing buyer attendance despite reaching venue capacity?
18:19–21:39
8
How does the WTM brand extend globally through sister shows and future initiatives?
21:39–24:16
Speakers
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