Building a standout travel brand with RX digital
The travel industry thrives on connection, and the most successful brands make an impact before, during, and after the event. Discover how RX digital innovation is empowering travel exhibitors to amplify their presence, attract more of the right buyers, and generate valuable leads at every stage of their event journey.
In the fast-moving world of travel, standing out isn’t just a goal—it’s a necessity. Whether you're a destination, hotel, airline, or travel tech provider, competition is fierce, and capturing the attention of the right buyers, partners, and agents is critical.
As the force behind top travel industry event brands like WTM London, Arabian Travel Market, IBTM World and ILTM Cannes, RX brings exhibitors face to face with many thousands of high-value prospects from around the world who are actively seeking new travel experiences, services and partnerships.
World Travel Market 2024 attracted 46,316 visitors and 4,047 exhibitors including global tourism boards, hoteliers, transport services, technology brands, associations and experiences. 34,082 business meetings were facilitated by online matchmaking (up 17% on 2023), and some £2.2 billion worth of business deals were signed at the event. IBTM World and ILTM Cannes were also the focus for sustained business in 2024, generating a record 73,000 and 85,000 pre-scheduled meetings respectively. But there’s more.
RX data reveals that exhibitors consistently see stronger results from trade shows when they combine face to face with digital engagement. Which is why exhibitors at RX travel events have unique access to RX Business Builder, an integrated suite of digital solutions which enables customers to increase their visibility and generate more sales leads at every stage of the event journey - and then measure their results with data-driven precision.
At Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024, more than 164,500 leads were captured on the show floor by exhibitors using Business Builder. These included 90,982 leads generated by exhibitors using RX’s Lead Manager App, and 73,707 proactively generated by attendees who, for the first time, were able to scan QR Codes on stands to collect the product and contact information they wanted in digital form in exchange for their contact details.
ATM exhibitor Igor da Lamas, Director & Founder of Bali Aero Travel, who has been using Business Builder since 2023, told us: “The digital solutions are very helpful, everything is made much easier and faster. It helps me be focused at the event. We used to go looking for buyers, now they come to us.”
Boosting visibility and buyer interest
The most successful exhibitors don’t just rely on foot traffic at the event - they use digital tools to attract buyer attention well before the doors open. With over 90% of RX attendees planning their visit in advance, engaging early with a strong online presence is key to standing out.
One of the most effective ways to do this is through the event website. Every exhibitor has an online profile, and RX research shows that simply completing it increases attendee engagement by 5.4 times. Those who take it a step further with a Priority or Priority Plus Profile – which include product carousels and sponsorship opportunities ̶ see two to five times more interactions, translating into stronger brand visibility and higher buyer interest.
At ATM 2023, one exhibitor was so impressed with their success that they assumed RX had changed its marketing strategy to bring in more buyers. In fact, revealed WTM Account Manager, Marylou Tancio, “our approach remained the same – the exhibitor had taken action early by promoting themselves ahead of the show with a Priority Profile. The data confirmed it: their early digital presence had driven more visitors to their stand. Seeing the results, they immediately rebooked for 2024 and upgraded to Priority Plus, securing the top search placement in their product category.”
Another highly effective way to increase your visibility before the event, and generate more stand traffic, is to promote an exclusive offer through RX Lead Booster. You create a simple mobile page offer for inclusion in the Lead Booster promo, and a link is emailed to everyone who pre-registers for the event. When an attendee swipes to accept your offer, their contact details are automatically sent to you. Effective offers include everything from product samples and prize draws to White Papers and sales discounts. At ATM 2024, the offers generated an average of 3,395 views and 607 leads, while for IBTM World they generated an average of 2,061 views and 651 leads. This was regardless of stand size or position, making Lead Booster a great leveller for smaller exhibitors.
Fast, reliable lead capture
For lead capture at RX travel shows, RX digital solutions like Lead Manager App and Colleqt QR Code are proving transformational.
Gone are the days of scribbling on the back of business cards. Using Lead Manager App on your mobile phones, you can collect leads quickly and reliably by scanning attendee badges for their contact information, product preferences and more. You can rank the leads in real time, adding notes and comments for rapid follow-up, and download them at any time as a CSV file for uploading to your CRM system.
Since Lead Manager App was introduced, take up has skyrocketed. At IBTM World 2024 in Barcelona, 79% exhibitors used the Lead Manager App generating 86,771 leads. Of the 8,190 registered attendees, 7,570 connected with exhibitors through the Lead Manager App.
Travel software solution specialist CodeGen used the Lead Manager App at Arabian Travel Market and was delighted with the results. “Dealing with business cards during show and following up is a real faff,” said Emma Atkins, Sales and Marketing. “We relied on the app to capture conversations and leads which made the whole experience so much more accurate and less time consuming. We can rate them as a lead, whether excellent, poor, or not suitable. We can also put custom questions in there, so we can prompt our staff to ask relevant questions, and then we can make notes. It’s great."
The latest addition to Business Builder is Colleqt QR Code, which puts attendees in the driving seat, while ensuring that exhibitors need never miss another lead. Attendees can proactively scan the QR Codes on a stand to collect product brochures and other information in sustainable, easy-to-carry digital form (no more heavy tote bags), in exchange for their contact details. Meanwhile, exhibitors secure additional new leads they might otherwise have missed while engaged with another customer.
“Arabian Travel Market really helped our business” said ATM exhibitor Adela Driesen of Smart Visit Dubai. “We had a lot of buyers scanning our Colleqt QR Codes. It meant we didn’t miss leads when we were busy in meetings. And we can follow-up with them later and start discussions. The majority were brand new leads I hadn’t met before. It was awesome!”
“We have to prove the event is bringing business and it's a big step up to have the QR codes and lead app,” agreed Delphine Hermann, Head of Travel Unit Marketing, Middle East for Amadeus. “In just one day we had 184 leads. We use the custom questions to qualify the leads which is much easier than business cards and follow up is so much faster, plus its targeted.”
Measuring ROI with data-driven precision
Demonstrating the value of trade show participation has always been an important goal for RX and for our exhibitors. That’s why RX includes Exhibitor Dashboard in its Business Builder suite of digital offerings - a real-time, data-driven tool that helps exhibitors track and improve their event performance.
Exhibitor Dashboard brings together all your key event metrics in one place, including leads collected at the show, profile views, digital engagement, and matchmaking recommendations. This makes it easy to monitor your performance in real time and adjust your approach using data driven insights to get better results. You can even benchmark your performance against your competitors in your sector. After the event, you can use your lead data and analytics to prioritise your most promising prospects for follow-up, and generate detailed reports to measure your ROI and justify your investment.
“We believe our Business Builder tools are game changers and are delighted that all 2,600 exhibitors at ATM 2024 adopted Lead Manager and Colleqt QR to add value to their event,” commented Event Director Danielle Curtis. “Exhibitors also took advantage of Exhibitor Dashboard to consolidate all their leads in one place and get real time data to help them measure and improve their event performance. So, we’re expecting even greater results for them in 2025!”
Digital engagement is transforming the way travel exhibitors connect with buyers and partners. And RX Business Builder puts you ahead of the game, enabling you to attract more prospects, capture high-quality leads, and measure success with data-driven precision. Call your travel event team for more information on how RX digital solutions can you elevate your show presence, or visit the RX website for more information.
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