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Katherine Ryan Captivates at WTM London 2024 Finale with Keynote on Resilience and New Journey Developments
Friday, November 8, 2024
The World Journey Market London 2024 concluded with a charming keynote by comic and journey collection host Katherine Ryan, who spoke eloquently about resilience, taking dangers, and the intriguing new journey pattern dubbed “rawdogging.”
The occasion wrapped up with a typically optimistic ambiance, mirroring the upbeat discussions that pervaded the levels on the ultimate day, together with debates on overtourism.
Pedro Homar from VisitPalma, advised attendees he was optimistic that overtourism may very well be addressed by numerous technology-enabled sensible measures, however the principle driver is political. “Tourism has become the common enemy for inhabitants,” he mentioned. “And when we solve issues around mobility, housing, schools, there won’t be as big an emphasis on overtourism.” He additionally admitted that makes an attempt to handle overtourism by pricing had failed.
A notable panel session centered on the way forward for price range journey, pondering whether or not the times of low-cost journeys are fading. It was agreed that whereas pricing stays a vital resolution issue for a lot of, the true attract lies in perceived worth, with personalization rising as a key technique to boost traveler satisfaction.
Sarah Sheppard from tech large Sabre famous: “The priority is more value than price sensitivity, that’s being driven by traveller expectations.”
One other important dialogue centered on the technological prices for companies, significantly in hospitality. Tim Hentschel from Hotelplanner launched the corporate’s newest innovation, the Resort Assistant, a voice-activated AI that assists vacationers in reserving lodging.
“It costs about $2 a call compared with $6 for our human agents,” he mentioned, “but it’s only converting at about a quarter the rate.” The product has solely been stay for every week or so, “and it will get better because AI is always learning, always getting better.”
Elsewhere, bloggers and influencers have been additionally upbeat, inside cause, concerning the present limitations that generative AI has. Filipe Morato Gomes, who arrange Alma de Viajante 20 years in the past, lately created a web site completely utilizing AI generated content material. “I generated 30-40 posts,” he mentioned, “and in the first few days, the articles ranked, but then they disappeared completely.”
TV journey reveals are nonetheless part of the advertising combine for journey firms. In her closing keynote, Katherine Ryan, who co-presented a Channel 4 journey present, additionally posts journey content material onto her social channels. “I’m certainly not a travel influencer,” she mentioned, “but I make myself into one. I love to document the trips I take.”
Among the many distinctive highlights, Ryan stood out by addressing a pattern gaining traction on social media: the apply of embracing silence and avoiding distractions like films or podcasts throughout flights, a phenomenon playfully generally known as “rawdogging” on platforms like TikTok.
“That’s something for the alpha males,” she mentioned. “When I fly, I don’t drink, I don’t eat, I just sleep.”
