There were a lot of activities in November: Skål’s successful participation in the final trade fairs in the annual calendar at the World Travel Market in London and IBTM World in Barcelona.
At both fairs, Skål had an important stand, which was used by numerous members who attended and by professionals from the sector who visited it and were interested in learning more about the organisation.
WTM London is, without a doubt, a world exhibition event. The exhibition, which for decades has brought together strategic players from the travel and tourism market, has also been established as a space where one can learn about the sector’s innovations, debate trends, increase knowledge and, of course, do business. The 2018 edition gave excellent options in all aspects and attracted thousands of visitors from all areas of the world. On this occasion, I was able to meet the directors of the organisers, Reed Exhibitions, a RELX Group company, with whom we agreed to work to further increase joint activities.
IBTM World allowed us to connect with various, potential Skål members working in the MICE sector in places where Skål is not yet present. In the coming, the Skål International membership area will start contacting all those interested who visited the stands.
Another important event was the first European Skål Congress, which brought together more than 80 participants. Organised in impeccable fashion by Skål International Paris, there were working days, business meetings and promotional and social activities. It was an opportunity to discuss Skål’s current situation in Europe and to share enriching experiences.
Finally, I would like to mention that we have already started to work with the team that will lead the digital transformation of the organisation, informative immersion meetings and evaluations of each sector will allow us to prioritise the work modules.
Our goal is to implement, in an innovative way, the alternatives to transform Skål. The digitalisation of an organisation does not consist in transferring what was being done offline to digital channels, but it supposes a real change of paradigm that will change our way of working in order to offer the membership more services, better information and greater business opportunities.
In short, these changes will provide ways to operate more efficiently and all of this entails a cultural change.
In our next edition, we will share more details on this fascinating process.
About the author:
CEO, Skål International
