Tag Archives: Alison Gilmore

ILTM events has announced a global virtual solution to bring the industry together before the end of the year. ILTM Cannes has been postponed to 2021. Entitled ILTM World Tour – access all areas, this virtual event is set to unite the entire global community of buyers and suppliers of luxury travel. A new one-off digital opportunity with a creative difference, ILTM World Tour – access all areas will compensate for the postponed ILTM events in 2020 and provide an environment for international luxury travel brands and regional buyer communities to virtually meet to connect and build their businesses. “Whilst we know that virtual events will NEVER replace our love to meet and share stories in person, we know right now that what counts the most is getting business lined up for 2021. We cannot predict the timing of when growth will come back, but we can be ready for whenever it happens.” said Alison Gilmore, ILTM Portfolio Director. Describing how ILTM World Tour was created, Alison Gilmore said, “We have created this one-off event to design a truly global business opportunity for all our ILTM suppliers and buyers and planned it so that we respect all time zones. With a 3-week time frame, everyone can create their own strategy and arrange meetings that will work for them.” “We know that the unprecedented events of 2020 have meant the luxury travel industry has had to adapt their business strategies. With target markets shifting as some borders remain closed, we want the objective of the ILTM World Tour to offer a global proposition to open up opportunities for all participants and be a time to bring people together, uniting through shared …

ILTM has commissioned a white paper to underpin the true value of luxury travel to small, medium sized and large businesses across the world. The report by Barton Consulting brings clarity to the numbers of people employed – 90 per cent of whom are working within small businesses or individual operations – and the contribution high net worth (HNW) travellers make to every sector. The report is further explained in a podcast entitled ‘Luxury Travel’s true impact on business and employment.’ Alison Gilmore, Portfolio Director, ILTM, says, “The challenge of COVID-19 has brought the realities of our world into sharp focus and none more so than our international inter-connectivity and dependence on the freedom to travel. The travel industry is one of the greatest catalysts for this globally-linked system and is also a far greater mechanism for the dispersal of wealth to local economies than has been recognised until now.” In the podcast, the report’s author, Barton’s Winston Chesterfield, explains how so few can make such a big economic impact by spreading their wealth to benefit local economies, communities, individuals and businesses. He explores how these individuals will be the first to kick start the industry post COVID-19 and why the wealth they control is vital to #keeptheworldmoving. “We wanted to contribute to the luxury travel sector and provide some new insight, facts and figures that we hope will give comfort to those whose livelihood has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown of this industry. When the time is right, we believe a new future will emerge and ILTM will be here as a catalyst, however long this journey takes,” added Gilmore.

International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) Arabia is set to take place on the first two days of the four-day ATM (April 24-25) located in Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Centre. ILTM Arabia will target high net-worth travellers from throughout the GCC and wider Middle East region, with buyers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar expected to have a particularly strong presence. Expenditure on outbound travel from the Middle East is expected to reach $165.3 billion by 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Highlighting the buoyant outbound travel market, another report, issued by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (2015 Tourism Highlights), which includes research teams from Frost & Sullivan and Insights Middle East, revealed a 9 per cent growth in the number of outbound travellers from the region in 2015, while the total estimated value of outbound travellers from the GCC in 2014 was $64 billion. Alison Gilmore, Portfolio Director for ILTM, said: “The Arabian outbound market is established and affluent, with a growing generation of individuals looking to spend their leisure time in the world’s finest places. This year we are inviting some of our closest partners to experience the new ILTM Arabia and explore the increasing business opportunities from the region’s highest net worth travellers.” Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Arabian Travel Market, commented: “Although low oil prices and sluggish economic growth at home might be stifling business confidence, the strength of the US dollar of which many of the GCC currencies are pegged to, means travelling overseas is invariably better value than it was in the past. The UAE for example witnessed a 19% increase in outbound trips to Europe in …