Despite previously positioning myself as slightly left of Pol Pot I now eat big capitalist wanky festivals with free swag. And for all this stuff it does not go much better than the World Travel Market at the Expo Centre down at Customs House in the London Docklands.
Here over 50,000 people attend each year in what is a 3 day jamboree of all things travel and corporate, with a healthy dose of politics and realism. This is where you need to be.
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What on earth is the World Travel Market?
The World Travel Market or WTM is a global travel trade show that has been running for decades in London. It started in 1980 at Olympia, then moved to Earl’s Court, and now takes place at ExCeL London in the Royal Docks.
Each November it brings together tens of thousands of senior travel professionals, ministers, buyers, exhibitors and media from all over the world. In recent years over 46,000 people attend with more than 4,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries. The event is where deals are made, products are launched, contacts are struck and the travel industry shows off its global muscle.
Click for our take on what counts as a country.
Who attended?
You might get confused into thinking almost all countries of the world were there after seeing the 180+ moniker, but alas what they view as a country is a bit loose. Places such as the Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands and Gibraltar were represented- kind of fair enough, but also lots of other regions.
This included your Sardinias and Crete, but also bizarrely (well no bizarrely) every single Emirate of the UAE. Their main stall, as well as that of Saudi were by far the biggest of the event. Make of that what you will.
And as for my favorites, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Libya and many more were not there even in spirit. We are thinking of coming next year to represent all of these slightly crazier nations.
The Swag at the World Travel Market
One of the best things about going to any conference is the swag and the World Travel Market did not let me down. Most of it though did come from the countries, but also from the tech startups. I got some cracking hats and the like from Modulr as well as healthy bounties from Revolut as they tried to keep me as a customer.
Overall we got water bottles, USB drives, hats, neck warmers, pens, bags and even a Toblerone. Honestly more kick than even when I was a journalist for Cambodia Investment Review and was at these places nigh all of the time.
Eating and drinking at World Travel Market?
You do not eat at the World Travel Market with the multiple food stalls and trucks selling at prices high even by the lofty standards of London. Do yourself a favour and grab a Tesco sandwich before coming into the event. I shit you not a hot-dog was $15.
Drinks things are similar, but in actual fact you can mess with the system and go to the stalls that offer free drinks. These included great teas and juices at the Hilton stand, tea from Iraq and even cocktails with Cuba.
Was it worth it?
This is actually a well presented and set up travel expo with a shit tonne of attendees. Now! More is not always better and that is well the case here, at least for us. But this is more about our adventure travel penchant rather than any issue with the event.
There were though without doubt some gems in the rough and I see a minimum of at least two tours we should Inshallah get out of the event. If this happens and they are successful then it would more than have paid for itself.
How to attend and exhibit in 2026
The next World Travel Market is scheduled for Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 November 2025 at ExCeL London in the Royal Docks, London E16 1XL. Visitor badges for trade attendees start at around £69 plus VAT. To exhibit, booth packages are expensive, starting from around $13,000 for a smaller space, with larger stands costing much more depending on location and design. Exhibitors are responsible for building and decorating their own stands according to venue rules. Early booking is recommended as spaces sell out quickly.