Former Reed Travel Exhibitions MD sets up new consultancy

The former head of Reed Travel Exhibitions, which delivers large international travel events such as World Travel Market and IBTM World, Nick Pilbeam (pictured), has announced he is launching a consultancy “to help the global travel and events eco-system navigate the opportunities and dangers of the Covid recovery era”. Pilbeam, who left RTE at the end of 2020, launched Reficere Consulting International, 25 January, and is positioning it to help destinations, tourist boards, convention bureaux, event tech companies, venture capital and private equity, event venues and organisers “seize opportunities, avoid dangers and accelerate growth”. Travel and events are experiencing the worst crisis in living memory with a one billion fewer international travellers in 2020 than in 2019, according to UNWTO statistics quoted by Pilbeam’s consultancy. The organisation also has said that tourism volumes are expected to recover by 2023 at the earliest representing a total loss of up to $8 trillion. Business travel, previously worth $1.3 trillion, might never return to previous highs, only recovering to 50%-80% of 2019 volumes. “The future of human contact has never been so uncertain, a fundamental crisis which presents both danger and opportunity. There is so much more to overcome than removal of travel restrictions, lifting of quarantine measures and rollout of vaccines to unlock recovery. Now is the moment to re-imagine and disrupt the market, to develop defensible unique value propositions, drive digital transformation and accelerate growth, all critical for job creation and economic recovery,” says Pilbeam, founder and MD of Reficere Consulting. Reficere, (meaning ‘renew’ in Latin), is also aiming to guide private equity and venture capital firms in acquisitions in the travel and events sector and to maximise returns. “I am excited by the prospect of helping navigate this emergent, jagged-edge recovery and, more than helping plan and execute for all possible scenarios, to help customers take the opportunity to re-invent themselves through this turbulent period of change,” Pilbeam adds. ​