Stephanie Peacock, recently named as the new minister in charge of tourism, will be on-site at Excel London for the opening day of this year’s Word Travel Market (WTM) London, the world’s most influential travel and tourism event.
Peacock’s days begins as part of the official opening ceremony for WTM London 2025, taking place on Tuesday 4 November at 09:00. She will be joined by other dignitaries including Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain, the premier partner for this year’s event.
Next, the new minister will be joining her peers at the UN Ministers Summit, hosted by WTM in association with UN Tourism and WTTC. The summit, now in its 19th year, is the world’s largest gathering of tourism ministers, aides and advisors, with selected representatives from the private sector also in attendance. Peacock will deliver a short opening address.
At 14:00 she will host a closed roundtable where ministers from across the EU will discuss sustainable tourism. She is also scheduled to take part in a C-suite panel discussion entitled “Soft Power Advantage: Leveraging the UK’s Global Influence.” The session will take place at 15:00 in the Yellow Theatre and is open to all visitors.
Later on, Peacock will be a guest at the Ministerial Reception, a networking evening dinner for attendees from the Ministers Summit. The event will take place at the Churchill War Rooms in central London.
Chris Carter-Chapman, Event Director, WTM London, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the new tourism minister, and we are proud that she has earmarked time in her schedule to visit WTM London. We look forward to discussing the importance of inbound, outbound and domestic tourism, introducing her to some of the major players and highlighting the major role that WTM plays in supporting the UK tourism sector.”
WTM London is itself an important part of the UK tourism industry and a significant contributor to the London economy. Last year’s event welcomed more than 40,000 travel professionals, four out of five (82%) of whom visited from overseas, spending money on transport, accommodation, and entertainment during their time in London and research suggests this is worth around £200 million to London.
Carter-Chapman concluded: “With VisitBritain confirmed as the Premier Partner, this year’s event sees an even stronger government presence at WTM London, which reflects not only how important the travel and tourism industry is to the UK authorities but also the role that WTM London plays to support that industry.”
