Euro focus for 2010 Travel Tech show

The Travel Technology Show 2010 will offer a more Euro-centric view of developments in the sector this year as organisers look to broaden its appeal.

Europe has been added to the show’s name, a move director Neil Simpson said underlined the central role the continent has on the development of travel technology.

On the second day of the show (February 10) one of Travolution’s four seminar sessions will look at European Travel Trends for 2010. The two speakers will be Travelzoo Europe executive vice president Chris Loughlin and Cheapflights global sales director Francesca Ecsery.

“We are breaking the island mentality we have in this country,” Simpson said. “We have been at the forefront of travel technology in this country but we are in Europe and other countries particularly in Scandinavia and the likes of France are looking to this country for inspiration.

“Also, it’s now a lot easier for UK companies to move into other non-English speaking markets, but it’s still a challenge, there are still issues to overcome. We are Europe’s leading show for providing technology solutions for the travel industry.”

Simpson said much more of the marketing of the show this year has been targeted at Europe and he expects delegates to make the trip to London for the two day show on February 9 and 10.

Around 70 exhibitors will have stands at Earl’s Court and organisers expect 4,000 delegates to attend over the two days.

This is the seventh consecutive year the show has been running and Simpson said there has, over that time, been a noticeable shift in the nature of delegates who attend.

“Seven years ago a very small percentage would have had a strategy with regards to technology; it was a very piecemeal, very ad hoc,” he said.

“Whereas now there is a clear directive and a clear focus and importantly they know what they want to achieve from their technology.”

Delegates can sign up to attend the show and for the seminar sessions of their choice on the Travel Technology Europe 2010 website.