WTM will be hosting two online seminars as part of this week’s Sustainability Week programme, with representatives from broadcast and magazine media sharing their thoughts on how the media is reacting to the changing face of travel amid Covid-19.

 

Session one, The New Normal? Country Branding at the time of Covid-19… and after, is hosted by BBC Global News, and will start at 2pm BST on May 19.

 

In a world reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, the session will look at how the travel and tourism marketing industry will evolve, what future trends might be, and how the industry will react to them.  Discussing the past, present and possible future of the travel industry, the session will delve into the shifting consumer mind set and, ultimately, what this might mean for communication strategies for travel brands.

 

Taking part in the session is Samantha Adams, Vice President, Advertising Sales, Western Europe, BBC Global News. She will be joined by colleagues Alex Greenwood, Senior Content Strategist, and Alessio Nesi, Associate Director (Production and Delivery), from BBC StoryWorks, the content marketing studio of BBC Global News.

 

In session two, Lyn Hughes, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Wanderlust magazine, will draw on her experience of travelling the globe and her belief in tourism as a force for good, benefiting local communities, wildlife and the natural world.

 

The session, called Tourism post-Covid: the challenges and opportunities for a more sustainable travel industry, starts at 2pm BST on May 21 and will look at how the travel industry can rebuild in the next months and years and whether it will be more or less sustainable than before. The discussion will assess what we can learn from our response to the coronavirus crisis to better prepare us to address the climate emergency.

 

Hughes will be speaking with Jeremy Smith, WTM sustainable tourism expert and co-founder of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency. As well as regularly advising on strategy and communications, Smith recently launched Resilient Destinations, a website created in response to the current Coronavirus emergency to collect and share stories and resources to ensure a sustainable tourism response.

 

Virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the media experts during both of the sessions. - TradeArabia News Service