Case Study: Pre-Event Meetings at the Travel Tech Show, London (June 2025)
A London-based advertising agency was attending the Travel Tech Show in London. They wanted to arrive with qualified meetings already booked rather than relying on the show floor.
The attendee list had more than 700 travel businesses, but most were travel technology providers, booking platforms and service suppliers. The agency's ideal client was a consumer-facing travel or hospitality brand with the budget and ambition to grow through digital advertising. That made it a narrow target: about one in eight attendees was a genuine fit.
I worked with the agency's team one day a week in the run-up to the show.
Screening the room
Every one of the 700+ attendees was reviewed by hand against the agency's ideal customer profile. Each company was checked for whether it sold directly to consumers, its size and growth signals, and its potential to invest in digital advertising. Tech vendors, suppliers and poor-fit businesses were filtered out, leaving a shortlist of 85 qualifying brands.
Finding the right people
For each of the 85 companies, I identified and sourced the people who make commercial decisions: founders, commercial directors and heads of marketing and partnerships. That produced 266 verified decision-maker contacts.
Warming up before the ask
Before any message went out, I built familiarity on LinkedIn: 95 profile views, 79 follows, 71 endorsements and 141 likes on prospects' content. When outreach arrived, it came from a name they had already seen.
Multi-channel outreach
I ran pre-event email sequences reaching 266 leads, alongside LinkedIn connection requests and follow-up messages. Messaging was tailored to the travel and hospitality sector and built around a clear reason to meet at the show.
Booking the diary
Interested prospects were converted into confirmed meetings for the agency's team at the show.
The boutique hotel brand came through the pre-event outreach and signed as a live client for advertising management, on an annual contract worth £60K+.
From a narrow audience and one day a week of support, one in four meetings became a client.