Category Archives: Exhibitions

Speaking from the corporate’s perspective during the 3rd TravTalk digital Conclave, Rajdev Bhattacharya, General Manager, Global Travel & Hospitality Services and Way2go, Digital Operations & Platforms for Wipro Limited said, “Virtual meetings are here to stay. Corporates will cut down on international travel in the short term, at least till April 2021, and airfares will go up as well. A lot of factors are fluid at this point of time but we can be sure that corporates will not buy travel the same way as before. To be able to cater to this, travel companies will definitely have to relook at the mix of people they will hire, depending on their skill sets. The entire travel industry is going to move to IT. They will also have to learn how to close deals on the phone. We will need to change the narrative of the crisis. The mindset is important. We are going to look at 2020 and say that it made us more resilient.”

Speaking at the third edition of the TravTalk Digital Conclave held on May 15, 2020, Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment said that weddings will start happening in India by December 2020. He said, “The last wedding we did was on February 29, 2020 in Udaipur. But this situation is not that big a problem for those who have cash reserves. These months are anyways an off-season for weddings. Business would definitely come back by December 2020 with a bang and it will be back in India. The expense is not a hurdle as people have money to spend on weddings. The wedding industry is here to stay!”

The third edition of TravTalk Digital Conclave will commence today at 10am and will go on till 1:30pm. With a total of three sessions of one hour each, the online event would see experts mulling over issues plaguing the travel and tourism industry during COVID-19 crisis. To register, email jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. The panelists for first session, titled ‘The Reality of NO tourism!’ will be Rajiv Mehra from IATO, Bharat Atree from Caper Travel Company, and Debjit Dutta from Impression Tourism Services. Second session, titled ‘Hotels in the age of social distancing. Where are the robots?’ will have Mandeep Lamba from HVS ANAROCK, Dilip Puri from Indian School of Hospitality and Jatin Khanna from Marriot Hotels. For the third session, titled ‘Big ticket business! When do we start looking at weddings, corporate and M!CE travel?’, the panelists include Rajeev Jain from Rashi Entertainment, Rajdev Bhattacharya from Wipro Limited, and Rajeev Kale from Thomas Cook India.

In light of the changing global situation relating to the COVID-19 virus, Arabian Travel Market will now be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 16-19, 2021. An official statement on the event website reads as follows: “Many meetings took place with the Dubai World Trade Centre and we reviewed other options to organize an event in the last quarter. However, after consultation with our key stakeholders and after listening to our Industry, ultimately it became apparent that the best course of action, and with everyone’s best interests in mind, is to postpone the event to 2021.” Furthermore, it states, “We are firmly focused on delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the Middle East’s vast travel and tourism community and as such are excited to announce that we will be running an ATM Virtual Event across 1st – 3rd of June 2020. Join webinars, live conference sessions, speed networking events, 1-2-1 meetings, plus so much more keeping the conversations going and delivering new connections and business opportunities online.”

According to a recent analysis by International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) on COVID-19’s impact on the meetings industry, 95.9 per cent of the confirmed meetings in Asia Pacific scheduled for 2020 were not affected by the virus outbreak. This accounted for 1,021 of the 1,065 meetings confirmed. The analysis also states that only 44 meetings scheduled for Asia Pacific were affected by COVID-19, accounting for only 4.1 per cent of the total. While 34 of these meetings were postponed, 10 were either relocated or cancelled. Outside Asia Pacific, two meetings in Europe and one in Africa are postponed. “We believe the international meetings industry can play its part in finding a solution to the current COVID-19 outbreak. International meetings represent the best possible vehicle for addressing this and many other global issues. As an industry, we must demonstrate resilience and confidence by maintaining to the greatest extent possible our ongoing schedule of activities – and where this is not possible, by working collaboratively to develop alternatives that help maintain the exchange of information and insights that account for the benefits we believe to result from this kind of engagement,” says ICCA President, James Rees.

IMEX Frankfurt, one of the largest annual trade exhibitions for the meetings, conventions, events and incentive travel industry, has been cancelled, due to the coronavirus outbreak. The event was scheduled to take place May 12-14 in Frankfurt, Germany. The announcement comes soon after IMEX Group Chairman Ray Bloom and CEO Carina Bauer said they were confident the show would go on. The statement reads, “It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of this year’s IMEX in Frankfurt (due to take place 12-14 May). We know that this will come as an enormous disappointment, not only to the exhibitors, buyers and industry professionals who were due to attend the show, but also to the global business events community. This is not a decision we have taken lightly and there are two overriding concerns that have caused us to make this decision at this time. First is the uncertainty caused by the fact that the German health minister has recently called for the ban on events with over 1,000 people which some German states have already endorsed, including the state of Hesse where Frankfurt is located. This announcement makes the probability of factors outside our control forcing us to cancel the show at the last minute much higher. Second, our primary concern is always the responsibility we feel towards our exhibitors and partners, who fund the show – not only by purchasing stand space but also in the considerable additional investment they make in everything from the build of stunning stands to the hosting of buyer events. Whilst only a short time ago we felt optimistic that May was far enough away to confidently proceed with our …

Reed Travel Exhibitions has announced that it has postponed Arabian Travel Market (ATM) to 28th June – 1st July 2020, at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, U.A.E. Due to the escalation of the COVID-19 epidemic around the world, after consultation with all their stakeholders, the venue management, supporting associations, and in alignment with the advice from the UAE public health authorities regarding travel to and from impacted countries, they have taken the decision to postpone the event which was due to take place on 19 – 22 April 2020 in Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). Whilst the UAE is following the strictest medical and hygiene protocols in line with international standards, they have made this decision in the best interest of the industry to enable them to organise an event which provides effective participation and experience for all. Arabian Travel Market (ATM), is the leading global event for the Middle East inbound and outbound travel industry for the last 27 years.

In its 16th year now, HICSA has become indisputably known as the premier hospitality event in the South Asian Region. It is now scheduled for 22nd and 23rd July 2020 at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai. Notable speakers confirmed or invited to HICSA 2020 include Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, Christopher J Nasseta, President and CEO, Hilton, Dimitris Manikis, President and MD – EMEA, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Federico J González, President and CEO, Radisson Hospitality AB, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO, IHCL, Radha Arora, President, Rosewood Hotel Group and Marc Steinmeyer, Founder, Tauzia hotels, to name a few.

The 35th edition of Aahar was inaugurated by LC Goyal, IAS, Chairman & Managing Director, ITPO. Reassuring the participants of Aahar he said, “Large complexes are sensitive to the needs and requirements of participants, I am afraid that ITPO has a long way in achieving this. They need to feel more receptive to all of you when you visit our office. I am going to revisit the entire system and make it robust. In case of any malpractice, please bring it to my attention. Infrastructure is one aspect; we need to develop the soft skills. The industry is getting very competitive, more venues are coming up, so best of service is required and we have a long way to go.” Assuring  better, transparent  and  accountable  professional  services  to  all  the   trade and industry by ITPO in future, he further adds, “ These events are extremely important, and we cannot undermine them. Last year we offered an area of 24000 square metres, this year it is 44 ooo square metres. There has been  a huge gap between demand and supply. For next year’s edition of Aahar hopefully we will be able to offer 1 lakh square metres.”

Inaugurating the  of the 35th edition of Aahar, L C Goyal, IAS, Chairman & Managing Director, ITPO, said, “Events like these help promote and transform the various sector of our economy. They are the lifeline of the exhibition industry. The industry is at a stage today where it is poised to grow at a faster pace. Recent studies have indicated that Asia and India will be at the forefront of future growth of global exhibition industry. This is a huge industry waiting to expand. This industry directly or indirectly is creating a business of more than 3 lakh crore every year. It has  a crucial  role  to  achieve  the  target  of US$5 trillion  economy by  the  year 2024 , as  envisioned  by  Prime  Minister   Modi. “