ILTM Cannes records 3,600 luxury travel professionals
ILTM Cannes, the world’s leading luxury travel event portfolio, recently concluded its 21st edition, gathering over 3,600 luxury travel professionals from 77 countries for a week of one-to-one meetings and networking events.
The global flagship event for the ILTM Portfolio was met with new levels of passion and enthusiasm with the luxury travel industry fully renewed and a spirit of true optimism emanating throughout the week. The event was a successful live reunion for industry professionals from around the world as participants were united over a positive outlook toward the future of luxury travel.
ILTM Portfolio Director Alison Gilmore said: “With ILTM, we bring together an international community, filling Cannes with a celebration of the luxury travel industry. Business went on day and night throughout the week as travel suppliers and buyers connected and forged new relationships, both inside and outside of the Palais des Festivals.”
In collaboration with American Express and luxury research experts Altiant, ILTM released a global industry report entitled ‘BUZZ vs. REALITY - Decoding the luxury travel consumer mindset’.
In highlighting this research, Gilmore commented: “We launched the first part of this research at ILTM Asia Pacific earlier this year and this in this global edition, it was interesting to see that not only are traveller demands higher than ever, but that Travel Advisors are now often expected to deal with various new responsibilities which they may not have had before. Their expertise is being recognised and advisors are becoming even more integral for the global affluent, with 59% planning to use Travel Advisors for half or more of their holiday bookings over the next year.”
Meryam Schneider, Senior VP at Altiant, luxury research specialist said of the research: “For this unique piece of research focused solely on affluent and HNW individuals’ views on luxury travel, we gathered quantifiable data across 14 countries, from affluent and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across the second half of 2022. As a result, the data became extremely relevant to any organisations targeting luxury travellers. The sample was balanced in age and gender and participating members were exclusively extracted from the top 5% of their country’s income earners or wealth holders, and each of them has been manually validated.’
Gilmore additionally commented on the industry trends and insights highlighted in the report: “At ILTM, we have certainly seen the transformation of the wellness travel industry, however it was comforting to learn that wellness continues to move up the list of priorities that wealthy travellers factor into their holiday bookings, with mental wellbeing an area of particular interest for many.”
Luxury travel brands, experiences, destinations, and suppliers enjoyed a week of building and renewing connections with international travel planners, curators and agencies once again. Throughout the week over 70,000 pre-scheduled, one-to-one meetings took place in addition to countless meetings at off-site networking events as ILTM took over the city of Cannes for the week.
Once again, ILTM brought together every variety of luxury travel experience from the industry’s most celebrated and established brands to new trailblazers in the luxury travel space. ILTM provides opportunities for professionals and brands to form and renew rewarding relationships and discover new business.
ILTM Cannes also hosted over 60 of the world’s most influential travel editors from publications that are the voice of luxury travel to their high-net-worth readers around the world. Exhibitors are given the opportunity to meet them through speed networking and press conferences in addition to one-to-one meetings organised over the course of the week. – TradeArabia News Service