WTM London 2016 Champions Sport Tourism with New Global Summit

A new Global Sport Tourism Summit will be launched at World Travel Market London 2016, a leading global event for the travel industry, in association with sport tourism company W2 Consulting.

Taking place on the first day of WTM London (November 7), the inaugural Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM London will showcase the burgeoning worldwide sport tourism sector and provide a platform for destinations, events, academics and respected professionals in the field to discuss best practice and future trends.

“Sport tourism is an increasingly important segment within the travel industry with countries and cities bidding for major sporting events in part due to the exposure and the positive impact it can have on the destination’s tourism industry”, World Travel Market London, Senior Director, Simon Press, said.

Following a summer of sport — with the European football championships in France and the Olympics in Rio — the summit will feature keynote speakers from across the world to debate one of the fastest growing tourism industry segments.

The Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM will have three key strands:

1. Sport Tourism Summit – Presentations from key figures, events, destinations and experts, along with networking opportunities.
2. Sport Tourism Data – Launch of the Annual Sport Tourism Monitor 2016
3. Global Sport Tourism Awards at WTM London – Award presentations honouring excellence in a range of categories including destinations, marketing, events and charities.

The summit will be hosted by WTM London in partnership with sport tourism consultancy, W2 Consulting, which was founded by Mark O’Connell and Keith Wood — a decorated international rugby union star, who played for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.

“Sporting events are continually in the headlines, offering huge opportunities to the host destination & tourism stakeholders”, said W2 Consulting’s Keith Wood.

“The Global Sport Tourism Summit at WTM London will hear from international experts how destinations can exploit the potential available in what is the fastest growing sector in global tourism and win bids for major global events”, he added.

WTM London 2016 will be revamped as a three-day event from Monday, November 7, until Wednesday, November 9, 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.