Awareness of Iceland as a Year-Round Destination at WTM in London

The travel exhibition World Travel Market (WTM) London started on Monday, November 6, with grandeur and spectacle. The annual exhibition lasted three days and is one of the world's largest travel exhibitions, attracting over 50,000 visitors.

This year, representatives from 22 Icelandic tourism companies and regional marketing offices gathered at the Icelandic national booth, collaboratively showcasing under the Visit Iceland banner. The exhibitors from Iceland include travel agencies, hotels, entertainment companies, spa lagoons, airlines, and regional tourism offices.

Here is a list of the Icelandic representatives

WTM is an international travel exhibition, with buyers attending from worldwide. Iceland was the only Nordic country with a national booth at this year's exhibition. Interest in Iceland is higher than ever, with a steady stream of visitors to the Icelandic booth. There is more and more talk about Iceland as a year-round destination, with more convenient flight routes and the direct EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Akureyri, which has attracted considerable attention.

Arnheiður Jóhannsdóttir, CEO of the North Iceland Marketing Office, celebrated the new flight route and said: "The opportunities created by the direct EasyJet flight to North Iceland have generated a lot of interest at WTM, both among individuals and tourists. The CEO of EasyJet, who transports 100 million passengers annually in 340 aircraft, discussed this new flight as an example during his speech about sustainable destinations because the flight has significant positive effects on local people and businesses. The mindset of working with a company matters a lot." Arnheiður also stated that bookings are going according to plan and that sales are expected to pick up following the coverage, with new packages developed at the exhibition, opening a new gateway into Iceland for the future.

Iceland's First Lady, Mrs. Eliza Reid, also attended the exhibition. Eliza has been a superb ambassador for Iceland, including interviews with NBC Universal, History Channel, and Simon Caldwell, who writes for The Independent, Guardian, etc. As if she was not busy enough, she was a podcast guest and participated in two panel discussions.

On the second day of the exhibition, a reception was held at the booth, attended by Sturla Sigurjónsson, Iceland's Ambassador in London, along with the First Lady. They had promising conversations with representatives of the Icelandic companies.

Below are more pictures from the exhibition.

Hér að neðan má sjá fleiri myndir frá sýningunni