NEWS ANNIVERSARY
LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED
This year, WTM London celebrates its 40th anniversary. Here are some highlights from the past four decades
W
TM London has grown beyond belief in the past four decades, launching at London Olympia in 1980 with 40 countries, 221 exhibitors and 9,000 trade
visitors. Two moves (Earl’s Court in 1992 and ExCeL in 2002) and 40 years later, WTM London now facilitates £3.4 billion in industry deals and has around 5,000 exhibitors from 182 countries and regions and more than 51,000 participants. WTM has grown, evolved and adapted to the ever-changing
world of travel, and still prides itself on being the hub of all travel ideas. This year, the festivals at WTM London will be bigger and better combined with its 40th anniversary celebrations. So as well as destinations and brands hosting festival parties, WTM itself will also host its own celebrations across the Inspiration Zones. Get ready to mingle, dance, and raise a glass to 40 incredible years of WTM London! The WTM festivals begin at 16.30 on Wednesday 6 November, and will be across the entire show floor.
1980: THE WTM LAUNCH EVENT AT OLYMPIA WTM’s launch event at Olympia was opened by the Duke of Kent and Miss World – Kimberley Santos of Guam. The Duke astounded everybody when he visited the Oklahoma stand and put on a full-length Red Indian headdress. The picture appeared in every national newspaper in the UK.
1981: PRINCESS ALEXANDRA OPENS WTM Princess Alexandra opened WTM to a near-riot among The Sun newspaper readers when a consumer promotion went wrong.
1985: PRINCESS DIANA OPENS THE EVENT The opening ceremony was standing-room only drawing its biggest crowd to date to watch Princess
18 WTM OFFICIAL EVENT PREVIEW OCTOBER 2019
Diana open the event. The princess had just given birth to the youngest of her sons, Prince Harry. “She was the most famous woman in the world. The security was fearsome… everybody wanted to be there. You couldn’t move because she made such an impact,” an attendee said.
1989: WTM CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH PRINCESS ANNE OPENING THE SHOW The princess, alongside exhibitors and visitors, were shocked when anti-apartheid protesters evaded security to drop leaflets on her head. The protesters also painted Olympia’s doors with red paint.
1992: WTM MOVES TO EARL’S COURT WTM becomes so popular that a decision is made immediately after WTM 1990 to consider an alternative venue. The event moved to Earl’s Court two years later.
1992: LAUNCH OF WTM MERIDIAN CLUB WTM introduced the Meridian Club, an
exclusive club for the industry’s senior travel buyers. Designed to aid negotiations with exhibitors, Meridian Club launched with almost 7,000 members. By 2008, it had almost 11,000 members.
1994: LAUNCH OF ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS DAY WTM created this event to encourage greater debate on green issue.
1998: JUST A DROP WAS
FOUNDED BY WTM CHAIRMAN FIONA JEFFERY WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery founded international water-aid charity Just a Drop on behalf of the travel industry. The charity raises desperately needed funds to build wells, provide hand
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