We were kindly invited down to Destinations: The Holiday and Travel Show held at the Olympia in London and armed with free tickets I headed on down to the big smoke to see what this show was all about.
Late last year we had the honour of visiting the World Travel Market London and it was phenomenal, we were there mainly for the Qiddiya City project but had the joy of immersing ourselves in extravagantly themed stalls, food and samples from around the world as we felt we were exploring tasters of each country around the world.
I was expecting something very similar here to the World Travel Market but this was a very different event indeed.
As opposed to a more tourist board-focused event for each country the Destinations: The Holiday and Travel Show is more of a showcase of travel agents and various experiences you can book around the world in more of a upsell-focused environment.
The stalls weren’t as extravagantly themed (I only took the photos of the better ones) and the exhibition hall had much more of a normal appearance than the well-themed and immersive World Travel Show.
From safari to Emirates Holidays, there were enough stalls to keep an avid traveller occupied but I felt as though the tone was in stark contrast to the previous show we had attended, we felt a little out of place at times.
Don’t get me wrong, checking out a variety of unique experiences, entering competitions to win luxury trips and more is all good fun but some of the stalls here were way out of normal holidaymakers’ price ranges.
A cruise for £6000, a luxury excursion for a week for £12,000 and more this was certainly a very niche travel show for the most part but some stalls had more affordable options which was nice to see.
Exhibitions usually bring a whole host of freebies along but on this occasion, I didn’t come away with anything other than a brochure, usually, my freebie collecting is indicative of if I enjoyed an event or not or found the exhibitors to be of interest to my own travel plans but sadly on this occasion the majority of stalls just weren’t for me.
It would have been nice to see some attractions within each of the countries exhibiting and not just travel companies and there were some random stalls near the back such as Hello Fresh and even a stall selling mobile phone cases which was very random indeed.
What I did enjoy about the show wasn’t even travel-related, it was food-related as we were shown how to cook a beautiful Western Australian rock lobster dish (in association with Qatar Airways) and at the end of the showcase we were given samples, it was divine.
I got so much information and insight from one showcase that I instantly had a look to see when the next Good Food Home Show was as I certainly felt I would have benefitted more from that particular event than I sadly did here.
Later on in the day Yui Miles (winner of Beat the Chef back in 2019) showcased this beautiful Thai salad dish which was extraordinary. As healthy as it was tasty the food stage was certainly calling me at every opportunity and for me, was the highlight of the show.
I feel as though the Travel and Destinations show certainly needs more showcase pieces and whilst there were a few (such as a beautiful RV to go travelling around the USA in) there needs to be so much more.
As a visual and practical learner, I need to see things to be immersed in them and interested and for the most part, the stalls here were very basic and blended into on another.
Everyone was welcoming and friendly but it’s hard to go up and speak to people if their stand is quite basic, you have no idea what they’re about and if going up to speak to the exhibitor would be beneficial to you.
Avid travellers may find it more appealing to shop around online to cater to those tastes but I’d still recommend visiting on the off chance that you may just find what you’re looking for.
The guest speakers across the entire event were very insightful but sadly with too many of the exhibitors focused on luxury travel, it alienates the budget travellers who just want to explore and I wasn’t a big fan of that, there should be a nice mix of both.
