Banksy Is Heading To the World Travel Market Trade Fair to Promote His "Walled Off Hotel"

Not even a full month since Banksy shook up the (art) world with his legendary stunt at Sotheby's auction, the world's favorite provocateur announced he is about to do the same with the world of tourism. Earlier today he posted on his Instagram that this year he will be attending World Travel Market in London, promoting his Walled Off Hotel at the Palestine stand.

Not even a full month since Banksy shook up the (art) world with his legendary stunt at Sotheby's auction, the world's favorite provocateur announced he is about to do the same with the world of tourism. Earlier today he posted on his Instagram that this year he will be attending World Travel Market in London, promoting his Walled Off Hotel at the Palestine stand.

View this post on Instagram

. Opening my first ever stall at a trade fair next week. I’ve painted a replica separation barrier to promote the Walled Off hotel, ironically the neighbours have complained it’s too tall. We’ll be at the Palestine stand giving away free stuff, World Travel Fair, London Excel centre 6th and 7th November. Free to get in if you register online today and pretend to be a travel agent.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Nov 2, 2018 at 7:07am PDT

WTM is a major fair that consists of six annual events across four continents, which create "the best opportunities for travel industry professionals to connect, learn and do business" and "facilitate the generation of over $7bn of industry deals". An unlikely place for any art performance or presentation, Banksy chose this event as the perfect setting for his next stunt. 

He will be participating in the event with a stall that will be part of the Palestine stand, promoting his arguably biggest and most original project to date - The Walled Off Hotel. He even created a replica of the famed intervention he painted on the separation barrier in Bethlehem just ahead of the premiere of Alternativity show last Christmas, which will be exhibited exclusively at the fair. And while this might sound like he is just turning into a businessman, the key part is that he announced that his team will be giving out free stuff, and also implied that one needs to register online and "pretend to be a travel agent". Now, knowing how much people love Banksy and related memorabilia, he basically invited his close to 5mil IG followers to a high-end business event. You do the math, but it seems like Palestine might end up having the most popular and most visited booth at a tourism fair, a result that very few could ever expect or foresee.––Sasha Bogojev