One of the world’s most influential travel and tourism markets has kicked off in London today.

The World Travel Market sees hundreds of industry leaders, tourism boards, hoteliers, transport companies and members of the public gather from across the globe.

This year’s event will be the largest to date, with an expected seven per cent growth and over 80 new exhibitors at ExCeL London, reflecting the thriving international tourism sector.

Here are the key themes and topics of this year’s summit as the travel industry continues to grow post-pandemic and becomes increasingly conscious of its impact on the environment.

Regenerative tourism and travel as a force for good

New to WTM this year is a spotlight on regenerative tourism. The topic will be the focus of discussions at the Sustainability Summit on 6 November.

Overseen by the show’s sustainability advisor Tina O’Dwyer, a leading expert in sustainable tourism and driving impactful campaigns, the three-hour summit will focus on using travel as a force for good.

Discussions will delve into how travel can be harnessed to support resilient communities, flourishing economies and thriving ecosystems.

“The whole programme invites both exhibitors and the media to boldly rethink how we approach sustainability, re-imagine its purpose and foster prosperity for all,” says WTM’s Exhibition Director Juliette Losardo.

Diversity, equity and accessibility

WTM is expanding its coverage on diversity, equity, accessibility, inclusion and intersectionality (DEAI) this year.

A dedicated DEAI Summit is taking place from 1:15pm to 5:00pm, with dedicated networking drinks from 5:00-6:00pm, on 5 November in the Purple Theatre.

The theme is ‘from commitment to action’, and the sessions will concentrate on steps that travel and tourism stakeholders can take to deliver on promises to create a fully inclusive industry for travel businesses, their teams and their customers.

Attendees will hear from a range of important speakers on topics including implementing mentorship and allyship programmes, intercultural sensitivity in marketing and communications, making nature-based and cultural visitor experiences accessible to all and connecting travellers with Indigenous communities respectfully and equitably.

Throughout the event, there will be gender-neutral toilets, the option to add pronouns to official event badges and multi-faith rooms for prayer.

How Greece is investing in sustainable tourism

Destinations from around the world have stands at the conference to promote their countries or regions.

Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO), a premier partner of the show, will demonstrate how it is balancing the benefits of tourism with the needs of local economies and communities while safeguarding the natural and cultural environment.

The country has introduced policies to diversify offerings, mitigate seasonality, upgrade education and foster cooperation with local communities.

Tools have been developed for comprehensive and systematic data collection and information flow in tourism.

‘Frictionless’ travel and AI technology

This year’s Technology Track sessions will focus on how sellers and suppliers of travel can address the ongoing headaches travellers face when they search, shop, book and pay for their trip.

This will include discussions about the importance of the customer’s digital experience and the future intersection between AI and loyalty schemes.

“We’ve decided to tackle head-on one of my industry bug-bears: despite all this tech, why do sellers and suppliers make it so difficult for the traveller to find what they want, to buy our products and to experience what we offer,” says WTM’s technology advisor Timothy O’Neil-Dunne.

“I will be addressing the ‘apocalyptic inefficiency’, as I see it, across the industry and explore the tech we need to tackle this.”

China’s visa-free list continues to grow, with five more European countries being added.

Citizens of Andorra, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Slovakia have now been granted visa waivers for the Asian nation.

Tourists from these countries, as well as South Korea, will be able to enter China visa-free from 8 November 2024 until 31 December 2025.

This comes after it was announced Norway would be added earlier in September, followed by Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia in October.

It brings the total number of European countries granted visa-free access up to 24.

In July, tourists from Poland, Australia and New Zealand were also granted unrestricted entry to China until the end of 2025.

Since the start of 2024, the scheme has been announced in stages, with various European nations and Malaysia also gaining visa-free access. It aims to encourage more people to visit China for business and tourism, and promote exchanges between Chinese citizens and foreign nationals.

The full list of European countries now includes Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. Tourists from these countries will be allowed to enter China for short stays without a visa until the end of next year.

The aim is “to facilitate the high-quality development of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges and high-level opening up to the outside world,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing on the initial announcement made in November.

Visa-free entry will be granted for up to 15 days in the trial programme.

International travel to China is still bouncing back

China’s strict pandemic measures, which included required quarantines for all arrivals, discouraged many people from visiting for nearly three years. The restrictions were lifted early last year, but international travel has yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels.

China previously allowed citizens of Brunei, Japan and Singapore to enter without a visa but suspended that after the COVID-19 outbreak. It resumed visa-free entry for Brunei and Singapore in July but has not done so for Japan.

In 2023, China recorded 35.5 million entries and exits by foreigners, according to immigration statistics. That compares to 97.7 million for all of 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

The government has been seeking foreign investment to help boost a sluggish economy, and some businesspeople have been coming for trade fairs and meetings, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook. Foreign tourists are still a rare sight compared to before the pandemic.

How else is China simplifying travel for Europeans?

Last year saw a surge in interest in China as a tourist destination among Europeans.

Data from online travel agency Trip.com showed a 663 per cent increase in overall bookings from Europe to China compared to 2022, and an almost 29 per cent increase on 2019.

The United Kingdom and Germany were among the top 10 sources of inbound travellers to China globally, the data shows.

Shanghai remains the most popular destination among Europeans with its alluring blend of modernity and tradition, followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Sanya, a beachside city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island, and Chengdu – the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province – are emerging destinations.

Beyond it’s new visa-free schemes, the country is further encouraging inbound tourism by promoting cultural and historical attractions in partnership with Trip.com. China is also enhancing tourism infrastructure by investing in technology, travel guides and e-payment systems.

Tourists eager to make a wish in Rome’s Trevi Fountain are being forced to toss coins over a plastic barrier into a small makeshift pool while the attraction is being drained for maintenance.

The rectangular box, unadorned and showing its plywood finish, has elicited mixed reactions.

“I think it is a very sweet gesture that people can still do that,” said Marianna Strekstadt, visiting from the Netherlands on Friday.

Others, like Daniela Carbone, found the substitute pool “ugly”. Yet, she gave her kids some coins to throw in anyway. “We have to please the children,” she said.

City lore has it that tossing a coin into the Baroque fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome. This tradition generates an estimated €1.5 million annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.

Why is there so much construction happening in Rome?

The maintenance work is part of a wider beautification project readying the Eternal City for next year’s Jubilee.

The holy event, presided over by the Roman Catholic Church, takes place every 25 years. From when it begins on Christmas Eve (24 December 2024) until it ends on the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January 2026), up to 35 million pilgrims are expected to descend on the city in search of forgiveness, renewal and celebration.

As a result, visitors to Rome this year have been met with closed off roads and monuments surrounded by scaffolding and construction boards.

In July, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told news agency Reuters that a record 3,200 public construction works were under way.

Billions of euros from state and EU funds have been ploughed into the city ahead of the Jubilee – not only to refresh its iconic historical sites but also to improve infrastructure like transport and waste management.

When the Vatican’s Jubilee Year kicks off, visitors will be able to use the city’s new AI-based virtual assistant, ‘Julia’. Available via WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, it aims to

introduce visitors to lesser known attractions, thereby easing the strain on major monuments.

Rome wants to charge tourists to visit the Trevi Fountain

To manage the overwhelming number of tourists visiting the Trevi Fountain, Rome City officials are devising a plan to block off the area around it.

Visitors will be required to book online and then pay a fee of €2 to get in. Once inside, they will have 30 minutes to enjoy the fountain.

Currently, access is limited to a fixed number of tourists while maintenance works are completed – a likely precursor to the fee being introduced in 2025.

Although the water has been drained, a glass and steel walkway being built across the monument will offer visitors a unique perspective of the fountain.

The reservation system is just one part of Rome’s plan to tackle tourist overcrowding. New regulations on short-term rentals and yet another hike in the city’s tourist tax last month also aim to ease overtourism.