Covering the Inbound Tourism Industry Since 1996

WTF @ WTM (For those of you who think impure thoughts, WTF stands for “Walking the Floor.” Shame on You!)

November 7, 2017 by Tom Berrigan

The INBOUND Report’s intrepid publisher and editor-in-chief, Jake Steinman, has been Walking the Floor (WTF) at this week’s World Travel Market (WTM) in London. Here are some of the tour and travel industry leaders he’s encountered while traversing the trade show floor.

Noel Irwin Hentschel, CEO of AmericanTours International with Mark Crabb, chief sales officer at Sonoma County Tourism.

Nick Hentschel, executive vice president, AmericanTours International.

Art Jimenez, executive vice president, tourism, Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority

Mark Everton, president and CEO, Visit Oakland.

Jake Steinman (right) visits Peter Dorner, President of New World travel, who just merged Event Travel Solutions into his company.

Tressie Benoit formerly with AmericanTours International and now with a company called World 2 Meet, a global B2B travel services provider.

Jack Wert, executive director, Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, has been telling operators that his destination was and is still in business following Hurricane Irma

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Neil Emerson, formerly with Tourico Holidays, is now CEO of OTS Globe. He was at WTM contracting for this new receptive operator entering the U.S. market from Europe.

Yves Vrielynck, destination sales manager for the Florida Keys and Key West, was letting people know that they were still accepting tourists following Hurricane Irma. Key West was barely damaged at all by Irma.

The Arizona team met as a group with operators who visited their stand.

Super Shuttle’s Blanca Espinosa, regional business development director; and Ken Testani senior vice president global marketing and partnerships, discuss the many forms of airport transportation alternatives to Uber.

AlliedTPro’s Mark Morello (right), CEO; and Karin Omojola, the company’s head of product, along with Franz Deutsch, director of tour and travel sales for Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, pause long enough to give us a photo op.

Above and below: When it’s time to relax … Miller time begins at 4 o’clock at WTM. And at the California and Texas stands, it was wine and beer for one and all.

Left to right: Tara Hippensteel, director of Tour & Travel, North America, Hard Rock International; Liz Gilbert, director, national accounts & travel industry sales, Entertainment Cruises Inc.; and Jake Steinman, publisher and editor-in-chief of the INBOUND Report.

Mugging for the camera, Fred Dixon (left), president and CEO of New York City & Co., along with Chris Heywood, the organization’s head of global communications, are joined by Julie Chase, vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Austin.

Billie Moser, vice president, international tourism, Travel Portland, shows off the suite for the destination, which has grown in importance for international tour operators.

Julie Katz, founder and president of Boston-based TourMappers North American, an increasingly important receptive operator specializing in Fly-Drives in beyond-the-gateway destinations

One view of the crowded Brand USA soirée.

Another angle, another view, of the Brand USA celebration.

A live band—just one of the entertainment options, which also included an opera singer, at the Brand USA reception.

Faisal Sublaban, CEO, Bonotel Exclusive Travel.

Women at the Utah stand scooping up servings of trail mix. The containers emptied quickly.

Becky Johnson, senior global manager, Utah Office of Tourism, in front of some show-stopping images of the state.

Caught in profile: Sanya Hamilton, head of sales, AlliedTPro.

Enzo Perretta, CEO of TeamAmerica, wondered how the consolidation of Hotelbeds will influence the receptive industry.

Who says WTM is an old-school trade show? Certainly not Las Vegas, with its other worldly Virtual Reality tour of the destination.

Judy Poyser (front, right), head of contracting, North Ameica, for Trailfinders, meets with cluster of representatives for Travel South states.

Stephan Forget, president and owner of Go West tours, surveys the situation at WTM. It’s been a flat year, he told us.

More Photos in Next Week’s Issue of INBOUND

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