The annual WTM London event, which takes place in ExCel London from November 7-9, is the world’s largest gathering of the tourism industry and brings together leading global figures in sport, tourism, marketing, major and mass participation events.

Professor Terry Stevens, (pictured) a leading innovator in tourism, who leads the International Dynamic Destinations initiative at the School of Management, has been invited to host the first Global Sport Tourism Summit as its MC. 

Professor Stevens will be in conversation with leading specialists in the field of sports tourism including former Premier League footballer Dwight Yorke, now Ambassador for sports tourism in Trinidad and Tobago, and former professional cyclist Stephen Roche, triple crown winner of Tour de France Giro d’Italio and World Championship in 1987 and now owner of a specialist cycling holiday company.

The Summit’s sessions will introduce speakers from major sports events, clubs to leading mass participation events that bring thousands of participants and spectators to sport tourism locations around the globe. 

Global sports brands such as Liverpool FC and Wimbledon All England Tennis Championships will join sport tourism experts from Barcelona, Flanders, Wales and Scotland.  There will also be insights from digital marketing and city engagement experts.

The Summit will also include the first Global Sport Tourism Awards, which will be presented across nine different categories, and Professor Stevens has also acted as the Chair of the Judging Panel for the Awards.

Swansea University’s School of Management has partnered with W2 Consulting at the Summit and is proud to sponsor two awards – the WTM Global Sport Tourism Destination Marketing Award and the WTM Global Sport Tourism Innovation Award. The awards will be presented at the Summit on Monday, November 7, by Professor Mike Sullivan, Swansea University Vice-President (Strategic Partnerships).

During WTM London’s Wellness Travel Symposium, hosted by Global Wellness Institute, which takes place on Tuesday, November 8, Professor Terry Stevens will be the moderator of the session on “Creating a Winning Wellness Travel Strategy for your Destination”.

The session’s speakers comprises Bjorn Rӧdde, Senior Lecturer in Swansea University School of Management and Principal Project Manager of the A Regional Collaboration for Health (ARCH) project; Dr Franz Linser, CEO of Linser Hospitality GmbH, Austria; Anni Hood, Founder and CEO of Anni Hood, UK; Alla Sokolova, Founder and CEO of Inbalans, Latvia; and Vinod Zutshi, Secretary of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The School of Management’s involvement in this year’s WTM London came as a result of the highly successful ‘Gwlad, Gwlad: Sport, More Than a Game’ sport and identity conference, which took place earlier this year in April.

The University also organised three sports-related conferences as part of the Feile an Phobail (Festival of the People) Summer School in Belfast in August, which comprised of sessions on Sport and Identity; Sport and Community Health; and Sport and City Tourism.