GEM11 Grows with New Attendees

Registrations for the Global European Marketplace (GEM11) now stand at 550 attendees, 15 per cent higher than last year’s record numbers. 

GEM11 is the annual members-only event organised by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) at which tour operator buyers sit down for a series of pre-scheduled meetings with a wide range of suppliers and trade contacts, ranging from hotels and specialist retailers to visitor attractions and tourist boards.
ETOA’s Executive Director, Tom Jenkins said: “This is great news, as numbers will continue to rise. Our peak booking period is in the last three weeks before our registration deadline, which is on 21st October.”
“This is the second year that GEM will be held at Wembley Stadium Conference Centre. But it has been running for nearly 20 years. Its success lies in its ability to provide suppliers an extraordinary concentration of tour operators. We will have over 230 tour operator buyers taking tables, far more than any delegate can meet in one day.”
“More important than size is the quality of the workshop. We provide an environment where members can have new ideas when discussing business. This springs from new contacts and from new angles in relationships with established partners. It is particularly heartening that over 20 per cent of those coming are doing so for the first time. The industry is changing. That our membership is changing and attending GEM is a reflection of what is happening in the market. It is also an endorsement of the Association.” 
Established ETOA tour operator members attending include: British Airways Holidays, Cox & Kings, Expedia, Globus/Cosmos Gullivers, JacTravel, Kuoni, Miki, Tauck World Discovery, Tourico, Tracoin and Travel Plaza. New members include Groupon, Indian Compass and Travellanda.
For more information on or to register an interest in the Global European Marketplace, please visit the event website, contact Lauren Thomas at ETOA or call 020 7499 4412. 
For press enquiries, please contact David Tarsh at Tarsh Consulting on 020 7602 5262 or email david@tarsh.com. 
ENDS
About the Global European Marketplace
ETOA’s Global European Marketplace (GEM) is the most important gathering of the European inbound tourism industry. It takes place on Friday 4th November, at the Wembley Stadium Conference Centre, immediately before World Travel Market in London and all the major players participate.

The GEM comprises a workshop and black tie dinner at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel. The workshop facilitates over 8,000 one-on-one meetings between senior-level buyers and sellers, with the buyers seated at tables and sellers circulating to meet them. 
About ETOA
Since its foundation in 1989, ETOA has grown exponentially to just recently include over 600 member organisations, of which more than a hundred are Tour Operators. Collectively, ETOA represents over €7 billion spending on accommodation and travel services annually. 
ETOA provides representation at the European government level for companies involved in bringing tourists to Europe. The Association promotes greater awareness of the benefits provided by the group travel industry in Europe - particularly increased income and employment. ETOA also influences European tourism policy and legislation. 
Areas of specific activity include:
• Promoting Europe as a tourism destination
• Establishing codes of conduct and guidelines for its members 
• Establishing commercial opportunities between buyers and sellers
• Working with other travel & tourism associations to raise the industry’s profile
Creating business-to-business events for its members has proved to be one of ETOA’s most successful strategies as buyer and supplier feedback is consistently positive and participant numbers have increased year on year. Other events include: the Hoteliers Marketplace (HEM) in February, the March Marketplace (MAMA) in March and City Fair in June.