WTM London Announces Global Tourism Ministers as Wanderlust Headliner Speakers

The Ministers of Tourism for Angola, Belize, Portugal, Guatemala, Jamaica, Uruguay and Montenegro are among the latest speakers to be announced for WTM London’s Wanderlust Headliner stage.

Sustainability is a key theme across several of the ministerial sessions, with leaders sharing how their countries are making tourism work better for people and places. Among the highlights, Pedro Machado, Portugal's Secretary of State for Tourism, will share how the country's new Tourism Strategy 2035 puts inclusive, resilient growth at its heart.

Continuing the theme, TV presenters Kate Humble, best known for BBC wildlife programmes including Springwatch, and Julia Bradbury, who has fronted Countryfile, will explore the role of travel in protecting wild places on Wednesday 4 November. That same day, TV presenter and disability advocate Sophie Morgan will chair a panel to ask who really decides what counts as accessible travel.

Resilience is another strong thread running through the programme. On Thursday 5 November, Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism for Jamaica, will join tourism leaders from Uganda, Armenia, Cambodia and Valencia to discuss how destinations prepare for, and recover from, crisis in Built to Last: Destination Resilience in an Uncertain World.

On the business side, senior figures from Virgin Group and its travel brands Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels Collection and Virgin Voyages will share their expertise in Redefining the Customer Experience in Travel on Thursday 5 November.

Matt Long, EMEA Managing Director for Delta Air Lines, and Garry Wilson, CEO of easyJet holidays, will discuss innovations in aviation and package holidays respectively, while Benoît Racle, Global Brand President of Premium Brands at Accor, will look at the guest experience in hospitality. Intrepid CEO James Thornton and WeRoad co-founder Fabio Bin will also explore how the next generation of travellers is seeking deeper connections with local communities.

Hosted and curated by WTM's official consumer media partner Wanderlust Magazine, the UK's leading travel magazine, and chaired by Wanderlust's Editor-in-Chief George Kipouros, the stage brings a fresh, outward-facing perspective to the programme.

The latest agenda for the WTM Wanderlust Headliner Stage is available here.

Chris Carter-Chapman, WTM London Event Director, commented: "Sessions on our four stages this year are built around the theme 'Resilience, Rebound & Reinvention: The next era of global travel.'

"As the world's most influential travel show, we are proud to be able to bring together global leaders, industry experts and new voices to tackle the biggest opportunities and challenges shaping travel today.

"This can only happen with the help of accomplished partners such as Wanderlust Magazine, who bring excellent partnerships and a fresh perspective.

"We are delighted to build on our longstanding relationship with the Wanderlust team and look forward to what is set to be a truly invigorating programme on their new stage."

George Kipouros, Editor-in-Chief of Wanderlust Magazine, added: “Travel has seldom been tested as it is today, and the destinations that thrive will be those willing to talk candidly about how they protect their people and places. That is the conversation we wanted for the WTM Wanderlust Headliner Stage. Tourism ministers will sit alongside the business leaders who shape how the world travels, and every session has been curated around the questions experienced travellers care about most."