Arabian Travel Market (ATM), part of the World Travel Market portfolio, has boosted its executive team with the appointment of a new Portfolio Director, who has over 25 years of experience within the travel trade and hospitality industry.
Claude Blanc takes on the overall responsibility for all events in the World Travel Market portfolio including, WTM London, Travel Forward, the International Travel & Tourism Awards, ATM, WTM Latin America and WTM Africa.
He joins from his role as Chief Executive Officer at Paris-based Travel & Co, a tour operating group which he founded in 2007. Prior to this, he was Digital Travel Director for TUI group and has also held senior posts with travel management company Rosenbluth International and timeshare exchange company RCI.
Commenting on his new role, Blanc said: “I am delighted to join such a respected, well known global brand, and to work with a team of seasoned travel industry professionals.
“Having been a sponsor, an exhibitor and a visitor at many travel trade shows, I bring a client perspective, an international network and a digital culture.
“It’s an exciting time to come on board, as the WTM Portfolio is set to smash last year’s achievement of $7 billion worldwide industry deals.
“Looking ahead to 2019’s events, my mission is to continue to increase the scale of the WTM portfolio through innovation and various new launches.”
Blanc joins a team of accomplished travel industry veterans, and his expertise will further cement the wealth of travel trade knowledge and event experience across the entire WTM portfolio.
He will now report to Nick Pilbeam, Divisional Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, a travel industry stalwart, with more than 17 years of FTSE 100 experience in the travel industry with corporate giants such as British Airways, Iberia and Avios.
Commenting on the appointment, Pilbeam, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Claude onboard. He is equally comfortable working as a part of a team or leading from the front, he has in-depth knowledge of the industry and understands the geographical reach our portfolio covers.
“Claude will be a great asset as we drive the WTM events around the world to go from strength to strength.”
ATM 2019, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 April – 1 May 2019, will adopt cutting-edge technology and innovation as its spotlight theme.
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises six leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7 billion of industry deals. The events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. About 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating about £3.1 billion of travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/. Next event: 5-7 November 2018 – London.
Travel Forward is a new travel technology event co-located with WTM London 2018 and part of the WTM portfolio of events. The inaugural Travel Forward conference, exhibition and buyer programme will take place on 5–7 November 2018 at ExCeL London, showcasing next-generation technology for travel and hospitality. http://travelforward.wtm.com/.
WTM Latin America attracts about 9,000 senior executives and generates about US$374 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 8,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news. http://latinamerica.wtm.com/. Next event: 2-4 April 2019 – Sao Paulo.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/.
Next event: 10-12 April 2019 – Cape Town.
Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2018 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 141 countries over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. To find out more, please visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com
Next event: 28th April-1st May 2019 – Dubai.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face-to-face through data and digital tools at more than 500 events a year, in more than 43 countries, attracting more than seven million participants. Reed’s events are held in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism events organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether they are global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have more than 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
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