You could walk WTM in 20 minutes this year.
Smallest WTM floor ever. Biggest signal shift yet.
Booths shrank. Budgets too.
Only Amadeus and RateGain held real ground.
But everyone was still there.
Smaller booths. Bigger conversations.
Cendyn, Sojern, Cloudbeds, Mews, Stayntouch, Apaleo.
Duetto, GauVendi , VenueSuite, BeSafe Group, HiJiffy, Runnr.ai.
iOL, Leonardo Worldwide Corporation, CellPoint Digital, XanderPay.
European consultants like h2c GmbH and Hotel Partner.
Investment bankers looking for M&A deals.
And, of course, the full booking engine tribe.
Everybody crowding door S2 or the nearby bars.
SiteMinder played it smarter: took over the The Good Hotel, like last year.
No booth, no carpet, no noise. Just conversations.
The new luxury at trade shows is attention, not square meters.
And yet… no one was shouting “AI.”
No “redefining hospitality” slogans.
No fake futurism. Just quiet deals.
And a lot of enthusiasm about the future.
Seems like the hype cycle is finally over.
Smart hoteliers stopped asking what AI is.
Now they are checking how it fits.
The show may be smaller.
But the signal’s sharper.
Less carpet, more clarity.
The trade floor is shrinking.
The thinking isn’t.
Where did you spend your 20 minutes?
PS- Thanks to SiteMinder for throwing the best WTM party. What started as a small event for 50 people three years ago is now an oversubscribed event with all the movers and shakers in the industry.
This year with the attendace of Mike Rogers, the incredible co-founder of Siteminder.
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