IFTM, the leading trade fair for tourism professionals in France, brings together all industry professionals (Leisure, Business, Events and Groups) every year in Paris, Porte de Versailles.
Moved forward this year to September 17-19, 2024 due to the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, IFTM will bring together more than 34 visitors, French and international buyers, travel agents, distribution and production professionals, journalists and media, influencers, students, French and international officials who will come to meet the 000 destinations and 200 exhibiting brands (tourist offices, airlines, hotel groups, tour operators, technology companies, start-ups, etc.).
After a successful 2023 edition, marked primarily by a strong comeback of travel agents (+45% vs. 2022), IFTM is now moving towards new thinking. In a world where constant evolution is the only certainty, the tourism industry finds itself at a crossroads of multiple challenges.
Thus, IFTM now presents itself as the catalyst for a profound and necessary evolution by exchanging with each actor and working on common axes, with a view to uniting the responsibilities of each to achieve new sustainable horizons.
Interview with Laurence Gaborieau, Director of the IFTM Show
What is the outlook for the 2024 edition of IFTM?
Very good! All the lights are green for the 2024 edition of IFTM. The exhibition space will be expanded and the number of exhibitors will be higher than in 2023. Indeed, we expect around 1500 exhibitors and co-exhibitors (compared to 1400 last year), with many first-time exhibitors (15% of exhibitors), as well as the return of certain destinations (Spain, Portugal, etc.).
The theme of the 2024 edition of the show will be "New Sustainable Horizons: Uniting Our Responsibilities." Can you tell us more?
After an edition focused on challenges and resilience, this year we have chosen to focus the main theme of the show on new sustainable horizons. We hope to provide collective benchmarks, project ourselves through rarely discussed future visions of tourism, set in motion reflections and open ourselves to other ecosystems, draw inspiration and facilitate awareness, desire to do things and exchanges by drawing on concrete examples. Everyone will be invited to consider their individual and collective responsibilities to move from reflection to action, from constraint to possibility and thus be a true agent of change and sustainable development in the tourism sector.
This common thread will also be materialized around three main axes, namely the environment, to invite exhibitors and visitors to turn towards a more sustainable tourism offer and offer authentic and enriching travel experiences while preserving the beauty of the world for future generations, inclusion to promote the accessibility and attractiveness of our sector to increase cultural diversity and allow the participation of all, and finally digital to capitalize on today's technological advances, in particular generative AI, to adapt to the new expectations of travelers.
What else is new at the IFTM show in 2024?
IFTM's visual identity has been reworked to complement the 2024 theme and boost its image, with new colors, in pink and orange hues and a simplified and modernized logo, which highlight the warm side of the event, its meetings and its exchanges. IFTM is undoubtedly the starting point of many trips and a true creator of opportunities in the tourism sector, and this aspect is graphically materialized, echoing the human, nature and business, three founding elements of the event.
Another major new feature is the redesigned Tech Zone. Led by technology companies Kaviar Tech and THETA, it offers a space dedicated to innovation in the tourism sector through immersive, multi-sensory activities, such as Apple Vision Pro workshops or the creation of travel journals using AI, not to mention live streaming with Ray-Ban smart glasses. The Tech Zone will also host the Start-Up Village, sponsored by Orchestra, with around twenty startups presenting their innovative solutions for the sector.
Other new features include the redesign of the Travel Agents Cup Junior final, the merger of the AGV by MSC Cruises lounge and the Conversations Space, and the Influencers' Village, which is being transformed into the Media Village.
What will be the highlights and the key conferences of this 46thrd editing ?
As every year, the show will open with the Inaugural Conference, where the theme of "New Sustainable Horizons" and the challenges of these three days will be explored. Speakers will share their visions of new sustainable horizons, including the presence of adventurer, speaker, and author Philippe Croizon. In the afternoon, the International Panorama will bring together ministers from several countries to discuss successful examples of sustainable and responsible travel implemented in their respective countries, the challenges encountered, and best practices.
Nearly 80 conferences will be organized and divided around 5 main themes to best meet the different needs of the market, namely Business Travel, MICE, Incoming Leisure Tourism (France), Outgoing Leisure Tourism and market / multi-sector conferences.
To ensure that the conferences are understandable to all visitors, regardless of their country of origin, a Silent Room system will be set up in the Arena by Maroc, Terre de Lumière, and Agora rooms using audiophones provided by Vox Group. In addition, French subtitles will be available for all conferences held in the Maroc, Terre de Lumière, and Agora rooms.
The final word ?
Meet us from September 17 to 19, 2024 in Paris, Porte de Versailles, for the 46e IFTM edition !
Patrick Koune
