Activists protested at the Israel pavilion at WTM London this week over the promotion of tourism linked to Israeli settlements, two months after the UK announced plans to ban advertising for settlements.

Two activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protested at the Israel pavilion at World Travel Market (WTM) London, at Excel London, on Tuesday 3 November. They held a banner reading “Every settlement is a war crime” and surrounded the stand with tape marked “Crime scene, no entry”.

One of the protesters accused Israel of promoting tourism “on stolen Palestinian land”. Security staff removed both activists from the hall, while a separate PSC demonstration took place outside the venue.

Why the stand was targeted

The protest followed a Middle East Eye report on 29 October about the make-up of the Israel stand, which is run by the Israeli government’s tourist office and shared by dozens of Israeli exhibitors.

The report named iTravelJerusalem, a tourism platform managed by the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA), among the co-exhibitors. The JDA is a statutory body of the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality. Campaigners say it has been involved in building and expanding settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, citing a 2025 EU report on plans to evict around 40 Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah to make way for a 320-unit settlement.

Middle East Eye also reported that the stand was shared with Africa Israel Hotels, formerly part of the Africa Israel Group, which it said had been involved in settlement projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Calls for action

Alongside the protest, campaigners, lawyers and MPs called on the organiser, the venue and the government to act.

  • Legal letters: Before the show, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) wrote to WTM and Excel London asking them to disclose their commercial arrangements with the JDA, iTravelJerusalem and the Israeli government’s tourist office. On 4 November it wrote to the Metropolitan Police asking it to investigate WTM and consider a Serious Crime Prevention Order, citing the organiser’s commercial relationship with the JDA.
  • MPs: On 2 November, 15 MPs wrote to the government asking it to require WTM’s organisers to remove exhibitors and material that would promote illegal settlements.
  • Campaign groups: PSC urged supporters to email Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband demanding the stand not go ahead. PSC deputy director Ryvka Barnard told Middle East Eye the situation was “a test for the Labour government”.

The question was also raised from within the travel industry. In an open letter on LinkedIn, London-based luxury travel influencer and PR professional Naomi Jane Adams asked: “If the Israeli Ministry of Tourism is still welcome at WTM, what exactly is it being allowed to promote?”

At the time of writing, neither RX nor Excel London had commented publicly. Middle East Eye reported that WTM did not respond to its requests for comment.

Israel’s return to the UK market

For the Israel Ministry of Tourism, this year’s WTM was about rebuilding demand. It used the show to launch its first UK advertising campaign since the 7 October 2023 attacks, alongside improving air links – five airlines now fly between the UK and Israel, with British Airways resuming flights on 25 October.

Ministry director general Michael Izhakov opened the pavilion. Michael Ben Baruch, director of the Israel Government Tourist Office for the UK and Ireland, told Travel Weekly the aim was “to make Israel easy to sell again”. A LinkedIn post marking the pavilion’s opening described the gathering of Israeli exhibitors as “a powerful statement of confidence” in the industry’s future, and did not mention the protest.

Israel National News reported that a member of staff from the pavilion was attacked on her way to the show on 4 November, a day after an activist questioned and filmed her at the stand’s information desk. Exhibition News has not been able to independently confirm the incident.

The backdrop, in policy terms

The dispute comes two months after the UK government announced measures against Israeli settlements. On 8 September, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK considers Israel’s occupation unlawful and would ban imports of settlement goods, along with services including financing, construction, real estate and advertising for settlements.

Campaigners argue WTM’s position is at odds with the government’s stated intent. Israel’s government strongly opposed the measures, and said it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem in response.

There is recent precedent for official action. In June, the UK government referred the Great Israeli Real Estate Event in London to the advertising regulator after settlement properties were promoted there. In January, Spain’s consumer affairs ministry opened an investigation into whether exhibitors on Israel’s stand at the Fitur travel fair in Madrid were offering trips to occupied Palestinian territory.

What it means for the events industry

The events at WTM touch on several areas relevant to organisers and venues.

  • Advertising rules: The UK’s ban on advertising for settlements is not yet in force, and the government has not said whether it will cover tourism promotion at trade shows.
  • Organisers and venues: The ICJP’s legal letters were addressed to WTM and Excel London, and the MPs’ letter asked the government to act through the show’s organisers.
  • Security: Protesters were removed from the hall by security staff, and Israel National News reported an attack on a member of the pavilion’s staff, which has not been independently confirmed as far as we know.
  • International precedent: Spain’s investigation into Israel’s stand at Fitur in January shows that governments elsewhere have already looked at what is promoted at travel shows.

Until the government publishes the detail of the ban, it remains unclear what, if anything, organisers will be required to do.