New direction for travel show

Makeover to ensure continued success for UK’s top tourism showcase.

Following the success of Best of Britain & Ireland 2015, which took place at the NEC last month, organiser Diversified Communications UK has announced some important changes to ensure the event continues to grow in importance as the leading annual meeting place for the UK’s domestic tourism industry; valued at over £100 billion annually.

After extensive consultation with exhibitors and visitors, the name of the show has changed to The British Tourism & Travel Show, with the tag line ‘The very best of Britain and Ireland’. This subtle yet significant change to the show’s name will more accurately reflect its status as the must attend event for the UK’s domestic tourism industry, says the organiser. Moreover, it will make it easier to position and market the event to both current and new attendees.

The British Tourism & Travel Show will boast an expanded free seminar programme, with the introduction of an additional new theatre for 2016. The line-up will include over 25 leading industry speakers discussing the key issues, opportunities and hot topics facing the domestic tourism sector today.

Commenting on the changes, The British Tourism & Travel Show’s event director David Maguire says: “BoBI has a proud history serving the UK’s domestic tourism industry for over 20 years. It’s already by far the most important and effective business event for the sector, and, following feedback, many people feel the new name more accurately reflects the strengths of the show – enabling us to reach and attract new buyers to the event. We have lots of other new ideas, which we are working on, to make sure we create an amazing, totally unmissable two days for this important sector. It’s incredibly exciting!”

“We think that the updated name is excellent,” says James Wood, marketing campaign manager at Marketing Liverpool. “The British Tourism & Travel Show explains exactly what the focus of the exhibition will be and places it at the forefront of the UK and Ireland’s domestic tourism calendar. We are excited to see the other developments the Diversified UK team have planned and look forward to supporting the show again in 2016.”

Best of Britain & Ireland took place on the 11th-12nd March, attracting 2,361 attendees and over 250 exhibitors. The new look British Tourism and Travel Show will return to the NEC Birmingham on the 16-17 March 2016.