Welcome to the trade-only travel event
THE 2010 BEST OF BRITAIN & IRELAND TRAVEL TRADE FORUM
Best for business
With the entire domestic travel trade community now fully united behind it, Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum proudly forms the centrepiece of British Tourism Week next March.
As Britain's only official exhibition dedicated exclusively to domestic tourism, if you want the best for your business - as a visitor or an exhibitor in a strictly trade-only environment, it's the one you can't afford to miss.
After the phenomenal success of the inaugural event last spring where the number of exhibitors, visitors and official media and industry association partners were the highest for over four years in comparison to BTTF, the event organisers have again consulted with the industry and put new initiatives into place for 2010. This ensures an even greater success for the next year and is uniting the domestic travel trade at what will be the centrepiece event of British Tourism Week.
Hosted Domestic Buyer Programme
As the high-profile platform for all that's best in travel and tourism in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum is VisitBritain's exciting and innovative successor to British Travel Trade Fair.
Trade days move mid-week
It has been decided that Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum 2010 will now be on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th March. All stakeholders were in agreement that this was preferable and will create a powerful second day to make it of equal stature to the highly positive start that was achieved on the first day this year.
New venue for 2010
The event is moving from ExCeL London in Docklands to Olympia in 2010, bringing the domestic tourism showcase to West London.
"We have seen a fantastic response to this year's inaugural Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum at ExCeL London, which is one of London's premiere exhibition centres. However feedback suggests that our valued exhibitors and visitors would benefit from a West London location and we are delighted that this move to Olympia for 2010 has proven very popular with them."
Rob Mackenzie, Managing Director, Best of Britain Events Ltd
Hosted Domestic Buyer Programme
VISITBRITAIN, VISITENGLAND AND THE COACH TOURISM COUNCIL ANNOUNCE MAJOR NEW PARTNERSHIP AROUND DOMESTIC COACH TOURISM AND BoBI 2010
Alongside the record number of overseas buyers coming in from all around the world to visit Best of Britain & Ireland through the Overseas Hosted Buyer Programme, 2010 will see a significant new development with the domestic travel trade industry. Working in partnership with the Coach Tourism Council and various stakeholders we will build special programmes and initiatives for these visitor sectors to strengthen their involvement in the event.
CTC chairman Sean Taggart said:
"This agreement heralds a new era of close co-operation between the coach tourism community and the National Tourist Boards and recognises the value of coaches to domestic tourism. We recognise the importance of a strong national showcase for domestic tourism and the CTC is delighted to be wholeheartedly and actively involved in helping to deliver a major presence from the coach market at British Tourism Week and BoBI 2010."
Chris Wales, CEO of the Coach Tourism Council said:
"We applaud Best of Britain & Ireland's highly innovative Hosted Buyer programme for senior figures from the major coach operators, which gives proper recognition to the stature and buying power of the coach industry. We will be working closely with the BoBI organisers to ensure the Hosted Buyer scheme is accurately tailored to fit the needs of our members.
This is just one in a series of new initiatives we will be developing with the organisers to ensure that the BoBI 2010 exhibitor line-up and visitor content has maximum appeal for the coach operating community and will so deliver a strong attendance at BoBI 2010 from our industry as a whole."
Karen Tiley, Confederation of Passenger Transport UK said:
"Coaches play a vital part in UK tourism and provide an affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly means of travel to UK destinations. CPT is delighted to be supporting Best of Britain & Ireland 2010 which recognises the role of the coach in the economy.
BoBI will undoubtedly assist CPT and its members in promoting the important benefits of coach travel."
Andrew Sutcliffe, Editorial Director of Coach and Bus Week said:
"This major new initiative from the Coach Tourism Council, VisitBritain, VisitEngland and the organisers of the Best of Britain & Ireland event is fantastic news for coach operators and their many millions of valued customers. To have a voice for coach tourism at the very heart of Britain's tourism thinking and decision making process can only help the coach industry continue to go from strength to strength. The programme of events for coach operators at the 2010 BoBI show looks very exciting indeed and all involved in this ground-breaking agreement are to be congratulated."
Bob Cotton, CEO of the British Hospitality Association said:
"This is excellent news! It is so important to have one strong focus for the tourism sector to connect all strands of the industry and BoBI is the one event to do this. The industry only needs one event next spring and this is it. The BHA is supporting this all the way and our members will play a big part in facilitating the success of this partnership; I have the dates ready in my diary!"
Phil Moon, Group Travel Organisers Association said:
"We are very impressed at this move forward which will involve our members on a much higher level. It makes Best of Britain & Ireland a much stronger proposition for the attendance of Group Travel Organisers and we are looking forward to working with everyone to achieve this."
Click here for the full VisitBritain press release and the GTOA press release
