WTM London 2016: Premier League Speakers at Global Sports Tourism Summit

Barcelona, a Tour de France winner, Wimbledon All English Lawn Championship, and the English football Premier League will headline the inaugural Global Sports Tourism Summit at World Travel Market London in November.

The Global Sports Tourism Summit at WTM London includes the first WTM Global Sports Tourism Awards, and takes place on Monday 7 November in Platinum Suite 1.

“We have a great line up for the inaugural The Global Sports Tourism Summit at WTM London”, Charlotte Sutton, WTM London, Conference and Events Manager, said.

The summit kicks off at 1.30pm, with an introduction from University of Swansea Professor Terry Stevens. British Lion and Irish rugby star Keith Wood will then discuss the opportunity of sports tourism. Wood is Director of W2 Consulting, who are organising the summit.

“Sports tourism is a vital and fast growing segment of the travel industry with tourists travelling for both big spectator events such as the Olympics and football World Cup, and participation events such as marathons and cycling races”, Sutton added.

Event Scotland’s Paul Bush; Catalonia Tourism Board’s Director of Marketing, Patrick Torrent; cycling’s ‘Triple Crown’ winner Stephen Roche; Julian Jenkins, CEO of Fanylse; Tom Cassidy, Head of Tourism for Liverpool FC; Visit Flanders, CEO, Peter de Wilde; and Sportcal CEO Mike Laflin will speak at the summit.

The WTM Global Sports Tourism Awards will take place throughout the summit. Awards cover destination marketing, digital marketing, innovation, event sponsorship, major and mass participation events of the year, sports tourism city and town, and sports tourism impact.

According to Sutton, sports tourism can be lucrative for destinations and play a key role in putting cities and countries on the tourism map.

“The Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM London will hear from many successes stories both in the speaking sessions and the awards”, she said.

WTM London 2016 will be revamped as a three-day event from Monday 7 – Wednesday 9 November, with opening hours extended from 10am – 7pm for all three days.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is an official media partner of WTM London 2016.