England’s Great West Way®, one of the world’s premier touring routes between London and Bristol, has opened registration bookings for its popular Travel Trade Marketplace event, where travel industry representatives and international and domestic travel trade buyers will have the opportunity to meet and secure business for future visitors to the region.

This year's Great West Way Travel Trade Marketplace 2022 is a hybrid event with a virtual one-to-one meeting day on Wednesday 16 November, a networking day, hosted by Ascot racecourse on Friday 18 November and a series of Discovery Visits for buyers taking place over the weekend on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November across the route. The event is suitable for any tourism business or destination along or within easy reach of the route, bringing together tour operators and wholesalers with products and services that feature on the route, including attractions, hotels, transport, ground handlers and other sectors of the route’s tourism infrastructure. The aim of the event is to enable supplier products to meet with buyers who are interested in contracting products and selling them to their customers. Buyers will choose one of four Discovery Visits, so they can experience the Great West Way for themselves, with a view to package and sell the route in future itineraries.

Florence Wallace, Head of Travel Trade at Great West Way, said: “The Great West Way was launched as a way of showcasing what the route has to offer international visitors in terms of its geographical location as well as its attractions, events, accommodation and hospitality. This year’s Marketplace event will include virtual one-to-one meetings enabling buyers in international markets to attend more easily and aiding international tourism recovery. It is an important event which pairs industry providers with international buyers, assisting with product knowledge to develop new Great West Way travel programmes, which will be booked by international visitors who are keen travel to all locations along the route.”

To coincide with the event, the fourth edition of the annual Travel Trade Directory will be available to all travel trade attending in-person. This resource includes key information from UK businesses across the route that are keen to work with overseas travel buyers. Every business that signs up to become a Great West Way Ambassador receives a free enhanced listing in the Travel Trade Directory.

For more information visit: GreatWestWay.co.uk/traveltrade/marketplace