Trade Archives - Com Namibia

Tourism Trade Shows: A Prime Moment to Boost Your Business

October 9, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Aer Lingus

Listening to travelers’ expectations, we adapt our offering to reflect market trends and the new aspirations of the industry

Travel is reinventing itself in step with the evolving expectations of travelers. While the sector has regained its pre-crisis level, behaviors are changing and redraw the attractiveness of destinations.

Among the notable trends, slow tourism with train travel is on the rise; in fact, it constitutes even the second preferred mode of transport for our visitors when they depart on vacation! The train is no longer merely a means of getting travelers to their destination. It has become an integral part of the tourist experience. It stands as a true travel philosophy: an ecological and responsible alternative. Aboard, comfort and relaxation are favored, with scenery to admire, convivial spaces, and services that make the journey enjoyable.

In the face of purchasing-power constraints, travelers favor nearby destinations, shorter trips, and off-season periods, all while seeking to control their budgets without giving up the pleasure of traveling.

The rise of outdoor activities, solo travel, and senior tourism is also transforming the tourism landscape, pushing industry players to adapt their offers. In a world saturated with images and recommendations on social media, travelers now seek more authenticity, personalization, and human connection in their experiences.

NOUVEAUTÉ 2027 : The World Tourism Expo creates the Travel Business Hub, a new space dedicated to professionals

This new space entirely dedicated to industry professionals will take place over two days, on March 11 and 12, 2027, at Paris Porte de Versailles.

Destinations, offices and tourism organizations, tour operators, travel agencies, distributors, accommodations, institutions and influencers will gather there to develop their networks, foster exchanges, and bring forth new business opportunities.

At the heart of the World Tourism Expo, the Travel Business Hub combines the visibility of a public event with an environment conducive to BtoB meetings. A conference program devoted to market trends and the major challenges of the tourism industry will complete this arrangement, making the Paris World Tourism Expo a must-attend event for all players in the sector.

Set up over two days (Thursday, March 11 and Friday, March 12, 2027), the Travel Business Hub will comprise three defined spaces:

• Travel Business Meetings where professionals, private or institutional, can schedule meetings with future partners or the media. Ten turnkey Travel Meeting Suites will be available to reserve for two days.

• Travel Business Workshops with a conference program addressing market trends, sector developments, and major industry issues.

• Travel Business Lounge, a convivial space for informal meetings and networking among professionals.

A BtoB and BtoC visibility

Participation in the World Tourism Show can also be paired with a presence at the Travel Business Hub to maximize the impact of your attendance by pursuing BtoB commercial actions on the one hand, and by gaining visibility among captive travelers seeking inspiration on the other (more than 73,300 visitors in 2026).

Partners of the Travel Business Hub

Adonet, Les Entreprises du Voyage, the Tourisme & Handicaps association, and the French Federation of Tourism Technicians and Scientists (F.F.T.S.T) are already partners of the Travel Business Hub.

LES SALONS DU TOURISME : Un temps fort pour booster votre activité !

Plus d’informations : https://www.salons-du-tourisme.com/fr-FR/paris/travel-business-hub

Contact pour les professionnels :

[email protected]

Acteurs du tourisme – offices de tourisme, hébergements, sites culturels… : développez votre visibilité et partez à la conquête de nouveaux clients en 2027

« True sources of inspiration for vacations and getaways of the year, the Salons du Tourisme offer a wide array of destinations, cultures, and experiences to discover. They allow visitors to project themselves into their next trips, while giving professionals the opportunity to build their reputation, showcase their offerings, and meet qualified travelers with plans. » Christel Marzullo, Director of the Salons du Tourisme and Destinations Nature

● Recruit new clients: 76% of exhibitors whose objective was lead generation are satisfied with their participation. The Salons du Tourisme help you recruit new clients and boost your business.

« We were delighted to participate for the first time in this show. (…) We will definitely come back next year. » Wanderwise

● Grow your turnover and implement a sales activation for your teams: 88% of visitors have a travel project with an average budget of €3,600 per visitor.

« Absolutely the objectives can be achieved, so we’ll be back! » – Tourism Office – Côte d’Ivoire

● Boost your notoriety with over 92,000 visitors, among whom more than 64% come to seek destination ideas.

« The Paris World Tourism Expo is THE important moment of the year » Tourism Office – Thailand

The World Tourism Expo: at the heart of trends and new travel desires!

Same date – Same venue

Destinations Nature is a true exploration ground for outdoor enthusiasts, uniting for four days all lovers of hiking, cycling, adventure, and outdoor activities.

A unique opportunity to meet a core audience seeking experiences and escape.

► To learn more

The Lille Tourism and Nature Activities Show: a must-attend event to conquer a high-potential visitor base.

The Tourissima Lille tourism and nature activities show: a dynamic and sales-generating event!

For its 38th edition, Tourissima, the Lille show for Tourism and nature activities, welcomes nearly 18,000 visitors on 6,000 m² of exhibition space and 250 exhibitors at the Grand Palais.

Essential for Hauts-de-France travelers, the show continues developing its new axis dedicated to nature activities. Hiking, cycling, outdoor getaways… an offering that invites exploring nearby riches, of France and the world.

Tourism players, the show is an opportunity to meet qualified visitors seeking inspiration for their next vacations. Indeed 88% come to the show with a travel project and 50% book a stay on-site or within 15 days with an average budget of €3,900.

Tourissima in figures:

• 84% of exhibitors are satisfied with the show*

• 82% of exhibitors generate sales after the show*

• 88% of visitors have a vacation project,

• 50% who book a stay on-site or consider it within 15 days

Estimate your participation in the Lille Travel Show

In an era where everything goes digital, nothing replaces face-to-face meetings, exchanges, and personalized advice. Come experience the Salons du Tourisme and join the adventure!

https://dweb.typeform.com/to/ek6VvvLC

• National and regional tourism offices

• Travel agencies and Tour Operators

• Receptive agencies

• Accommodations

• Museums and cultural sites

• Outdoor leisure and activities

• Cruise lines

• Thalassotherapy, thermalism

• Associations, unions, federations

• Press and publishing

• Traveller services and equipment

Contact

For more information, click here / Exhibitor section
[email protected]

IFTM: Could the trade show also be an opportunity to rethink your career?

September 29, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Transition professionnelle : un salon comme l’IFTM peut devenir un révélateur, car on y retrouve son marché mais aussi une partie de soi - Depositphotos.com, rclassenlayouts

CroisiEurope

The IFTM will once again gather those who shape tourism, from September 15 to 17.

For three days, badges will cross in the aisles, appointments will follow one another, business cards will be exchanged, and conversations will sometimes extend well beyond the official salon hours.

Because a B2B show is primarily a place for business. People come here to meet clients, partners, discover markets, discuss innovation or prepare for the months ahead.

But there is also something more subtle at play.

You will reconnect with former colleagues and you will cross executives you have known for a long time. You discover that someone has changed companies, that someone else has created their own activity, or that another has just taken on a new responsibility. You then measure the evolutions of a sector, sometimes without even realizing it.

And within this collective movement, a personal question sometimes makes its way.

And it is not necessarily because one is looking for a job, but sometimes simply because one senses that something must evolve.

After a few years in the same company or after a reorganization, a departure, or simply the desire to give one’s career a different direction, a show like the IFTM can become a revealer, because you find your market but also a part of yourself.

Passing from a search-oriented mindset to a positioning-oriented mindset

This is particularly true for executives, because when an executive leaves their post, voluntarily or not, the temptation is strong to want to very quickly find a comparable situation (same level of responsibility, equivalent scope, same title).

One must “bounce back.” And if possible, quickly.

Yet, the real challenge of a professional transition often lies elsewhere. It is not only about finding a job. It is about finding a direction again.

After ten, fifteen, or twenty years of a career, a manager never starts from scratch. They depart with solid experience, know-how, an understanding of organizations, but also a more precise awareness of what they no longer want. Their professional capital has evolved.

The problem is that we often keep presenting ourselves by our last job title. We have been HR directors, sales directors, marketing directors. We have held certain roles in certain companies and, when that tenure ends, we naturally seek to reclaim its equivalent.

However, a career path is not reducible to a job title.

Behind a post lie skills, experiences, problems solved, transformations supported, environments in which one has learned to be effective. It is precisely this process of putting things into perspective that enables moving from a search logic to a positioning logic.

A professional show can be valuable during a period of transition

In a period of professional transition, the reflex is often to multiply approaches. As if volume would automatically generate more opportunities (more resumes, more applications, more contacts).

Yet, by trying not to close any doors too many, one can end up not being clearly identified behind any door.

A professional who presents themselves as “open to any opportunity” signals availability but does not necessarily give a precise reason to consider them.

Conversely, the one who can explain what they bring, in which contexts their experience is particularly useful, and what they now wish to build becomes much more legible.

The market does not necessarily notice those who can do everything. It notices those whose value is identifiable.

That is also why a professional show can be valuable during a period of transition. Not to distribute their CV there, nor even to find a job there, but to listen attentively. Observe sector transformations. Understand leaders’ concerns. Hear new needs. See new ways of working emerge.

Being able to talk about one’s experience

There is a substantial difference between saying “I’m looking for a position” and being able to talk about one’s experience, its professional convictions, and what one would like to contribute in the future.

In the first case, you are seeking an opportunity. In the second, you open a conversation.

And it is often in these conversations that trajectories one had not imagined arise. It could be a mission, a consulting activity, an entrepreneurial project, a meeting that leads to another meeting or simply a discussion that helps understand that a skill acquired over the years can have value in a very different context.

In this perspective, the network is no longer a mere list of people to call when one needs a job. It is a professional ecosystem that one nourishes over time.

A show like the IFTM is one of those places where this ecosystem meets in person.

The field shows that career paths are not as linear as one might imagine. That some professionals switch sectors, that others leave salaried jobs, that some accept a role less obvious on paper and find new momentum there.

Perhaps that is, ultimately, the true interest of a rendezvous like the IFTM for a professional in reflection: to rethink what comes next.

Record Year for Canada’s Largest Travel Trade Show

June 22, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

CroisiEurope

Rendez-vous Canada est le plus grand salon touristique professionnel organisé par Destination Canada, l’office de tourisme du pays.

« In three days of meetings in Toronto, more than 60,000 appointments took place between international buyers and Canadian sellers, generating CAD 100 million in sales. » Gloria Loree, Senior Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer for Destination Canada.

More than 500 international buyers traveled, 100 more than last year, from 24 countries including Destination Canada’s nine strategic markets: France as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Japan, China, South Korea, and Mexico. The invited buyers represent tour operators, travel agencies, OTAs and Canadian receptive operators.

Fifteen French buyers traveled to Toronto

Among the fifteen French buyers attending Rendez-vous Canada this year were the major players in travel distribution and tailor-made journeys: Cercle des Voyages, eDreams ODIGEO, FRAM, Imagine Canada / JMB Voyages, Interkal’Air, Kuoni / Vacances Fabuleuses, La Route des Voyages, lastminute.com, Les Maisons du Voyage, Naar, Travel Abroad and Voyage Privé.

One of them, Antony Enault, explains: “As Head of North America Production at Cercle des Voyages, I find Rendez-vous Canada essential for developing new partnerships with Canadian suppliers, discovering the latest trends in North American tourism, and enriching our product range through direct exchanges with key players in the Canadian travel industry.”

This French delegation illustrates the growing interest of the hexagonal market for a destination that focuses on authentic, immersive experiences deeply connected to nature, vast spaces, and human encounters that define Canada’s identity.

A strategic meeting for tourism professionals

The event is built on pre-scheduled ten-minute business meetings between buyers and sellers. An efficient organization that allows professionals to concentrate months of sales prospecting into just a few days.

“This year, buyers were able to meet more than 900 sellers representing 628 Canadian companies: destinations, receptive operators, accommodations, carriers and experience providers from across the provinces and territories. It’s a unique opportunity!” comments Cyrielle Bon, Chief Executive Officer of Destination Canada in France.

In addition to the business meetings, participants could discover the province of Ontario through several familiarization trips before and after the fair, and through tours of Toronto during the event. These programs allowed international buyers to experience authentic experiences, open to nature and the human encounters that characterize the Canada brand.

Toronto and the province of Ontario: a showcase of contemporary Canada

A cosmopolitan city and international gateway to the country, with direct air access from France, Toronto provides an ideal setting for urban explorers. A multicultural and dynamic metropolis, it fully embodies the image of modern Canada: open, creative, and oriented toward human experiences.

Wildlife watching, slow mobility, nature-based accommodations, Indigenous experiences, and multi-activity stays were among the products most sought by the French buyers in Toronto.

The host city treated them well: it is an ideal starting point for exploring Ontario, with Niagara Falls and wineries just 1.5 hours by road; the Muskoka chalet region 2 hours north; exploring lakes, rivers and streams on the way to Kingston and Gananoque toward the neighboring province of Quebec; and of course a visit to Canada’s federal capital: Ottawa!

Meetings scheduled for 2027

Rendez-Vous Canada 2027 will celebrate the event’s 50th anniversary: we look forward to welcoming many of you from April 28 to May 1, 2027 in Calgary, Alberta!

Travel agencies, OTAs, and tour operators based in metropolitan France, please contact Maryse Normandeau, head of trade partnerships for Destination Canada in France: [email protected]. She will provide you with all the essential information to plan your visit to this fair.