Charlie Cracknell: “We’ve Got the Best of Both Worlds”
Charlie Cracknell, Exhibition Director for World Travel Market and responsible for WTM Latin America, sat down with Caribbean News Digital during the 2017 edition of WTM Latin America / Braztoa, held in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Where does the golf exhibition take place?
The interesting thing about golf is that it moves every year. Last year we were in Mallorca and this coming year, in December, we’ll be in France.
Are you planning to do it in Latin America?
This is a huge market. We speak to golf destinations all the time. We’re looking at developing our markets, one of which, for example, is Rio. It hosted the Olympic Games and has fantastic courses.
We are currently assessing where we might be able to bring it, because the opportunity for golf is to go globally now, it’s in demand. It’s under review, but we haven’t chosen destination. At the end of the day, we will do what our customers need to, which is why WTM Latin America exists.
We need to bring our market together, we can bring international market and the best is that we know how to connect it.
World Travel Market worldwide is developing fast and growing every year. This is already the 5th edition for Latin America. What expectations do you have for global WTM during this year?
We have London, ATM Arabian Travel Market, we have our Africa show, Latin America and Asia. We are covering the main points of the globe. The one thing we are very focused on is delivering returning investment to our customers. We are very careful about where we take it and why we do it.
The regions where we are at the moment, as I mentioned before, is because that’s where our customers want to be.
Our expectations are that we continue growing, but we grow our quality and our quality is making sure that we’re bringing the right people to such events as WTM Latin America because they are important to our customers. They are qualified buyers, they are people who have authority, who have budget and have the intention on doing business.
We make sure that our customers investment is retained, is long term and they keep working with us to improve what we do.
Why choosing Brazil to host WTM Latin America?
Initially it was done because it offers the opportunity of building scale very quickly. To make events work, you need scale and scale attracts people to come. As you can see, today we’ve got very large international representation matched to a very large Brazilian representation.
As we look at the region, we know there is greater demand to other things. This is very much our home, we have great partners here. As you can see, Latin America views this as a place to be, where I can do business right now.
Is Latin America presently looking at Asia as well?
Yes.
How is WTM in Asia developing with exhibitors from Latin America? Are they growing as well?
It’s a growing market. We need to look at how we connect those segments of people that want to see each other. The WTM Connect Event was very purposely built on one-to-one meetings.
When you are entering a market it’s about very much having a qualified group of meetings and buyers that you know want to see you. Trade shows are fantastic, but the table-top meetings format allows a very quick connection and view to grow that business in confidence that the market is right for you.
Do you think that the market is running at networking one-to-one meetings?
I think there are certain strategies that will apply to the events. One thing is the face-to-face work, but there are different layers of how face-to-face is important to different people.
Some are very much focused on destination positioning and awareness. The private companies that come with them do the business underneath the brand of the country or the region.
It’s about brand and destination awareness, it’s about networking, about one-to-one meetings so that you can meet people who want to see you; but it’s also about that free networking which is all the people in one place at one time, creating opportunities that aren’t available elsewhere.
We come to a destination like Brazil and let the market do what it does well: do business by itself. We like to control a lot of things, but equally the market is very adept to doing business on its own.
We’ve got the best from both worlds and that’s where we enjoy delivering a value to our customers. As you can see, it’s not just about customers, it’s about meeting the media, about learning.
This event is everything to everyone, but not always for the same types of things. You are here for a different reason and someone else is here for a different reason, but it’s under one roof.
What do you think about the specialized tourism media? How helpful is it for the travel world? We have bloggers and different kinds of media.
I think the general market needs information, but today’s market is so busy with news and information that specialization helps correct the focus and if you are targeting a specific type of customer, clientele or receptor, it helps consolidate a trusted view.
From my perspective, all media is important and it gives people an opportunity to decide for themselves, but the most specialized become fit to a certain group of customers you need. It’s invaluable.
The more you and your colleagues are ready to provide that information, the more value you bring. When you are in an event like this, if we can give you the information that helps you write the stories, create the conversations, then we are collectively correcting that community loop together, which means that at the end of the day the consumers are walking away with the product that hopefully suits them because the people who were selling it have chosen the right product to put into the market.
