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Last November I went to a kind of zoo. A large and fenced terrain. Bought myself an entrance ticket and walked with many other visitors along paths to do some serious monkey gazing.
Location: the World Travel Market in London. The what? Yes, the WTM in London. If you think about it, there are some strong similarities between the travel exhibition and your average zoo.
It resembles an assorted congregation of cattle from all over the world gathered here to inspect, observe, sneak around and attack. They are all on the look-out for a prey. A rat race of people as busy as bees running around and hunting their goals, targets, expectations. You would be forgiven for comparing it to a wild goose chase.
Armed with a map of the area, the mammals wind their way through the jungle, exploring the hunting grounds. Because in essence, that is what the World Travel Market is: a hunting ground. A colourful mix of primates looking for a kill. Be that CEO’s and ambassadors in quest of publicity, product managers of tour operators hunting for bargains on room rates, PR-agencies that stride along the stands offering their services - I've had meetings where the business card of one of our competitors was laying on top of the stack :).Travel trade magazines that promote their on- and offline services and organizers of holiday exhibitions from other European countries that come along to have a sneak peek at how things are done in London. Everybody wants something from someone else.
Tens of thousands of conversations take place in this wilderness. Both arranged and unwanted. How many would really lead to a 'kill'? A sealed deal, signed and delivered? When looking at my own years of experience - not so many.
The WTM is the opening of the hunting season, followed by the IBTM World in Barcelona, the Vakantiebeurs in Utrecht, Fitur in Madrid, Vakantiesalons in both Antwerp and Brussels, the BIT in Milan and the ITB in Berlin ... all offering a jungle of stands like peacocks spreading their feathers vying for the best attention.
Some of the species present can be approached easily. Sweet as can be. But there are also some who behave like birds in flight – fluttering participants who are all over the place apart from on their own stand. There are pit bulls and hyenas. Like the advertising folk who stalk you and firmly place their paws on you and do not let go until the deal is made.
Then there are the mules. People behind the stands that still don't have a clue about your business even though you explained it to them three times over. Separating the sheep from the goats This is the moment where you put your happy-face on because somebody's got to do it.
And the King of Animals – the Lion. You can usually find these species on multi-storey stand on the first floor. Away from the crowds and impossible to see because of all the bouncers on the ground floor who act as iron bars like a cage in a zoo. Tarzan desperately trying to get hold of Jane but to no avail.
Meerkats who when speaking face to face do not even look at you but constantly watch other people pass by, elephants that make you have to step aside before they crush you, slow snails, slithering snakes, hide-away ostriches, copy cats and muttons dressed as lambs.… yes, you see an entire zoo in a whole new light at trade shows like this.
Are trade shows like an albatross around your neck? No. On the contrary - I simply adore them. I have visited them over 50 times in my business life so far and actually kind of made them into a collector's item, a keepsake – well yes a ‘zoovenir’. Our office is generously decorated with name badges from fair visits. Armed with my bamboo briefcase and a mind full of ideas I make my way through these jungles, hoping to find my Jane. An impenetrable rain forest and a scorching hot savanna they often are. But when - with sweaty armpits, sore tongues and blisters on my feet – we bring home a trophy once in a while – it makes me feel human again.
After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
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