WETM-IAC Conference - Nadine and Wendy travel to Portugal to promote Torbay and South Devon

Last  weekend, when we were all relaxing, Nadine and Wendy were off to Portugal for the 2015 WETM - IAC Conference - they got back to sunny Torbay on Wednesday and here Nadine shares her thoughts.

We were in Lisbon at the start of the week for the WETM-IAC 2015 conference, an annual industry get together for the Work Experience and Travel market. 

We met some amazing people, listened to inspiring speakers and shared knowledge with industry leaders from across the globe.   

Here’s what I learned:

• Brazilian barbecue is without doubt the only way to eat.
• Portugese coffee can keep you awake almost all night
• The Rooster of Barcelos is a nationally loved emblem that is slightly disconcerting when life size!

But anyway back to the serious stuff…

Simplicity, Traceability, Community and Participation are core principles that drive our young people in the 21^st century.  The Sharing culture, whether it be software, platforms, cars, land or knowledge is growing at a crazy rate and looks likely to dominate the next decade. 

Generation Y values authenticity, shared experiences and community and their passion to make a difference in the world sends them far and wide.  We met with many youth travel organisations and heard the same thing time and again…there is a huge demand for young native English speakers all over the world! 

As a country we are really rather slow to promote the amazing opportunities available and this needs to change.  America, of course, does it brilliantly already and in the next few years TTPL will look to do the same.  We will expand upon our Outbound portfolio to further promote the benefits of travel, work and culture.  We already offer agriculture and teaching programmes in USA and Italy but we’ll be looking to other sectors and countries that can offer fantastic educational experiences for the UK’s adventure minded young adults. 

Look out USA, we’re coming for you!