Feeling Small

World Travel Market is such a spectacle. You emerge from the chaotic transport, cold and rain into a world of colour and energy. There is no doubt that this comes from the new destinations that have embraced tourism with optimism and money - Kazhakstan anyone? What a wonderful contrast to the hard bitten, slightly cynical presence of the old hands. The countries that don't really want to be there, but haven't quite got the courage to withdraw completely. Of all the sights and sounds the message that stays with me came from a poster on the way in - it said, "You are one of 264 million people that work in tourism and hospitality" Wow. After feeling pretty irrelevant for a while this gave me an enormous sense of optimism. Just like the new exhibitors, the industry constantly reinvents itself and this excitement is contagious. We will need this energy to get through the next two tough years, but we will.