“World Routes is the global meeting place for every airline, airport and aviation stakeholder. In attendance are 3 000 delegates, 700 airports, 300 airlines, 130 tourism authorities, 110 countries and 80 speakers.
Over 3 concentrated business days, 3 000 delegates will take part in over 13 000 face-to-face meetings to discuss new and existing air services.”
This years World Routes took place in Barcelona, Spain. Our photography and videography team consisted of the same crew who covered World Routes 2015 in Durban, namely Wade, Matt, Josh and myself (Kelly). With over 12 000km to travel, we left Durban in the evening and arrived in Barcelona the following afternoon, easy going. We met with the Routes team for a site visit the day before the conference started and we couldn’t believe our eyes… Huge stands were being built, tools and sawdust lay everywhere, and laborers worked ferociously to get their stands ready on time. When we walked back in the next morning, it was like a completely different venue. The brilliant red trademark floors were absolutely spotless and each and every stand was finished and ready to receive delegates and host meetings.
We had a very comprehensive brief that directed us on what needed to be covered, where and when. This is always so helpful when covering such big events, as we do not want to miss anything important. A big part of the brief was to photograph each and every stand, all 150 of them. With this in mind, we set off, ticking boxes as the days went on. The conference spanned over 2 halls, so Wade and I split up, divide and conquer as they say. This was the sensible thing to do, making the best use of our time. Also, we were each walking about 8km a day, so I don’t think my legs would have handled double that! The days generally consisted of the delegates registering, collecting their itineraries and diaries, and getting familiar with the venue. Then they were off to attend pre-scheduled networking meetings, listen to conference speakers, host delegates at their stands and enjoy the experience of Routes. In between all of that were delicious snacks, lunches and beverages. Each day ended with a celebration. Day 1 was the welcoming and commemorative evening hosted at Cafe del Mar, in the harbor. It was great to be right by the water, watching the ships dock and also and capture night scenes of the city. Day 2 ended with the Routes Marketing Awards at the Olympic Stadium, Palau Sant Jordi. As we were leaving, we were treated to an incredible fireworks display happening just down the road, what a great surprise. The third and final day ended with the farewell reception hosted by World Routes 2018 Host, Guangdong Airport Authority. A huge well done to the team at Routes for organizing and managing yet another brilliant event, that will keep people coming back year after year. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the team again and look forward to next year.
After a very successful shoot, we packed our bags and headed home. Well half of us did… Wade went off to Italy and Matt to Dubai, each meeting up with their better halves and enjoying some time out. So that left Josh and I, we were the ones who packed our bags and headed home…
Below and before the photos is the overall highlights video of the 3 days of World Routes 2017, enjoy! For more corporate events filmed by OD Media go here and for photography work go here
