“It’s been a really good show. I’ve had some great conversations with people. What’s good about this show is that it is the groups who are here. There are other shows where you get people coming to talk to you about other stuff whereas this is the opportunity to talk to groups.”

 Christina Farley,
Bletchley Park

“This is the second year that we have been to the show and it has been just as good as last year. We really feel that we have conversations with people who are going to actually bring their group and that is exactly what we want. We’ve spoken to membership organisations, groups with hundreds of members and people who have never heard of us. A lot of the people we have spoken to are really in the right place geographically, so they are really quality leads.”

Mary Powys,

Sudeley Castle & Gardens

“It has been a really positive experience for us today, we’ve had a steady flow of people all day long, a huge variety of people and it has been great to network with other suppliers too. We’ve had all kinds of different ages and sizes, groups that we’ve never even considered so it has given us an opportunity for us to interact with those. It gives the opportunity on both sides to ask different questions. Having the face-to-face contact with people has been great.”

Mark Godfrey,

Premier Holidays

“We’ve been promoting our whole product range. What is going well is the cruise & tour programme and the rail collection. Japan, India and China have been especially popular. We’ve had lots of new enquiries, especially from the U3A and we’ve made lots of new contacts. Because of Covid, a lot of people have been out of the loop for a few years, and they’ve been saying today that they want to now go on their bucket list holidays. The groups market has exploded in the past year or so to the point where we’re putting extra resources into it. It’s always important to see people face-to-face. A lot of people who come here are already our regular customers, so it has been great to see lots of them and also good to meet new people as well. I’ve been surprised at how many new organisers have come to see us today. The show has been fabulous – it’s a well-oiled machine and works very well.”

 Glen Thomas,

Wendy Wu Tours

“We’ve had a lot of enquiries today from GTOs for our 2026 events. The show has been excellent. This is my third show now and the quality year-on-year is increasing and the conversations are getting much more in-depth, much more interesting and as a result we’re getting much more business from it all.”

“It’s great to make connections with group organisers at the show; our products change throughout the year so it has been great to talk about what we can offer them. It’s a great event to meet GTOs and coach operators; lovely to reconnect with people in the travel industry – it’s always a highlight in the calendar for us.”

Marcia Clement,
St Paul’s Cathedral

“We’ve seen genuine interest with an intent to come and visit on day trips and even longer than just a day this time as well. There is definitely an interest in longer than day trips and a lot of people have been keen to meet us and find new ideas.”

Helen Broom,
Great Sussex Way

“It has definitely been worthwhile because I made some really good trade contacts – new faces, new contacts – this was very valuable. It was great to see old and existing partners as well.”

Gabrielle Alam,

CroisiEurope

“It’s been a really good show for us. I think coming to trade shows like this is always important to connect with travel organisers and coach operators. Being from a quite remote part of the world, it’s always good to have a presence at somewhere like this because you get to connect with everyone quite easily.”

Chris Douglas,

Bombay Sapphire Distillery

 “It’s been our first Group Leisure & Travel Show and it’s been insightful. We have learned a lot and hopefully we are able to turn that into real business. We’ve certainly made some useful connections with people that feel like they’re going to come and visit and it is a mixture of people who book events and organise trips. We have built connections with groups and we can connect our products to them at a later date so we have certainly found the value of being here. We will absolutely be coming back to the show in 2026.”

Steve Buchan,
Museum of Illusions

“It’s been a very good show, very successful. This is our first time and it’s been great. The spot we’ve had has been really good; I’ve been trying to grab people as they have been leaving the Seminar Theatre. We’ve done bookings with the magazine this year and I think this show is one of the bigger players, so we wanted to give it a go. Ideally, we will come again next year.”

“I’ve spoken to a lot of exhibitors and quite a few of them have said that the group organisers here are of good quality and I really agree with that. There has been plenty of faces to keep us occupied and quality enquiries from people who are genuinely interested in visiting Kent. We’ve talked about coming again next year as it’s been a great day.”

“We’ve met a lot of good group organisers, some who already do business with us but also a lot who have never worked with us and seem interested, so it’s been a promising day. It’s good to put a face to the name to the people we work with so they know exactly who we are and we can help.”

“Today’s been great, and we’ve had a lot of interest in the Spectacular, which we’re confident will turn into new business. I think this has been a really good investment for us, our stand has been busy and it’s lovely to see so many different stands – the place is full. We’ve met a lot of people in the trade which is exactly what we wanted. The right kind of people are here.”