The latest edition of the World Travel Market (WTM) in London in 2025 confirmed the resilience and acceleration of the global tourism sector, while establishing sustainability as its major strategic imperative.
Strong Economic Growth
The analyses presented, notably the Global Travel Report, project global tourism growth of 3.5% per year over the next decade, outperforming overall economic growth.
This positions tourism as a rapidly expanding sector, poised to represent more than 12% of global wealth by 2035.
A key trend revealed is the reversal of the short-stay trend, with an expected return to longer trips.
Travelers are now seeking more immersive and extensive experiences, prioritizing quality and depth over frequency.
The dominant theme of the discussions was the need for « balanced » and responsible tourism.
Destinations, particularly European cities, are committing to strategies aimed at reconciling economic growth with social acceptance and environmental impact.
The goal is no longer mass tourism, but more targeted tourism, a trend that will be crucial for future investments and the development of public policies.
WTM, as a global trade show, highlighted the increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to personalize the customer experience and optimize the management of tourist flows, going hand in hand with the goal of sustainability.
Increased visitor numbers and more exhibitors
WTM 2025 benefited from a major physical expansion of ExCeL London (an additional 25,000 m²), allowing for a greater number of exhibitors and conference sessions.
The event is one of the most important for the sector, facilitating a colossal number of meetings: more than 34,000 pre-scheduled meetings took place in 2024.
These high figures confirm the WTM’s role as a major business hub where billions of pounds worth of deals are negotiated.
Although the final post-event figures are not yet available, the organizers had announced very high attendance targets and based them on the significant growth of the previous edition.
More than 34,000 pre-scheduled meetings took place in 2024.
More than 46,000 participants were expected. This is an increase compared to the 46,316 participants registered in 2024.
More than 5,000 qualified buyers were targeted.
The 2024 edition had already seen an 11% increase in qualified buyers, reaching 5,049.
More than 4,150 exhibitors were expected, representing more than 180 different countries.
This follows the 2024 edition which saw a record participation of 4,047 exhibitors.