Category Archives: Exhibitions

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is back with the 38th Thailand Tourism Festival (TTF), to be held from January 17-21, 2018 at Lumphini Park, Bangkok. H.E. Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and Sports will preside over the opening ceremony. The festival will showcase attractions and culture from all corners of the Kingdom of Thailand. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor, TAT, said, “The incredible experiences and attractions on offer across Thailand are being showcased at this year’s TTF, coupled with an array of food, culture, live music, and more.” The 38th edition of the festival will be made up of ten zones, including ‘Follow in the King’s Footsteps – the Art and Science of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’ in Zone 1. Zone 2 will have domestic travel products – introducing all that’s on offer for domestic travellers. Zone 3 would have ‘Discover Thainess in five regions – the Northern village will feature King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s ‘Sufficiency Economy Philosophy’, information about local hill tribes and Doi Tung coffee shops.

The sixth edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) in Nagpur took off on January 15 at Centre Point Hotel. Around 956 registered attendees marked their presence at the event. The first day saw presentations on products like Eurail by Amigo Travels, cyber security session by Prevoyance Cyberforensic, Genting Cruise Lines, FXkart, Travcare, Singapore Airlines, Sahibji Group, Mazda Travels, Red Tours, etc. A knowledge session was also held on Goods & Services Tax (GST) for the travel industry. GPS Nagpur will host 120 exhibitors for B2B meetings over the next two days.

At the sixth edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) Nagpur two new products will be launched—RainbowCTM and Trip38—informs Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS. A new membership card ‘GPS 10X Membership’ will also be launched at the show. The card will allow its holders to avail discounts on various products and services across India. “This will be a virtual card which would not be required to be carried physically but will be stored on the cardholder’s smart phones. Currently, GPS has a following of over 15,000 travel professionals across India and this would be a good opportunity for hotels, restaurants and FMCG industries to offer discounts to the GPS members. Those enrolling for GPS membership will have a full year access to the GPS App at no additional cost. All new tie-ups, offers and benefits would be available to the registered members. Exhibitors not only in India but overseas will also be able to promote their services and products to the Indian travel trade through the App and through the RainbowCTM platform. Trip38 would be a travel assistant tool for the agent’s client database,” says Anand.

Switzerland Tourism, in an effort to catalyse tourism development across India, has introduced several new attractions, experiences and activities for both popular and lesser known destinations in Switzerland. The recently conducted annual roadshow in India across cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Delhi witnessed over 900 participants from the travel and tourism trade industry. A special B2B session was held in each city allowing the Indian travel agents to meet and discusses business prospects with the Swiss delegations. Claudio Zemp, Director – India, Switzerland Tourism, said, “This year has been a remarkable year for Switzerland Tourism with Ranveer Singh coming on board and promoting the destination with his charm, unmatched energy and fun personality which thoroughly matches the image Switzerland Tourism wanted to portray. In terms of growth from India, we had a fantastic year with a year to date growth of 25.1 per cent more overnights. We are thankful to our partners for their continued support and we hope that we welcome more tourists for the upcoming season.” Ritu Sharma, Deputy Director, Switzerland Tourism, India, says, “In the past few years, Switzerland tourism has upped the ante to attract more tourists from India. Apart from the key metros, we are also penetrating into Tier I & II cities by conducting training sessions in these markets to ensure that the travel trade is well equipped to answer queries relating to our offerings.” ­­­­­­

In an aim to tap more potentialities from the Indian tourism market, the Indonesian government held a two-day tourism promotion event at Ambience Mall, Delhi from December 9-10, in partnership with MakeMyTrip. “India is part of the ultimate tourism markets for Indonesia. Not only Bali, we would also promote other destinations across Indonesia for potential Indian tourists throughout the event,” said I Gde Pitana Pitana, Deputy Minister for International Marketing Development at the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia. According to Pitana, the arrival figures of Indian tourists to Indonesia have grown significantly to 357,522 in the first nine months of this year, or 31.07 per cent higher than the figure in the same period of last year. The event was expected to help the Indonesian government to achieve its target of 456,000 Indian tourists this year, Pitana added. Source: Xinhua

With an aim to promote the tourism avenues of Uttar Pradesh in the world, Government of Uttar Pradesh is set to organise International Conclave from February 20-22, 2018 in Lucknow. A meeting of stakeholders chaired by Akhand Pratap Singh, IAS, Special Secretary, Department of Tourism, Govt of UP & Managing Director, UP State Tourism Development Corporation Limited was held on November 29 at Paryatan Bhawan, Lucknow. Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President, Uttar Pradesh Hotel & Restaurant Association (UPHRA) who is also Hony. Secretary of FHRAI and HRANI along with fellow hoteliers and stakeholders attended the meeting to discuss the roadmap of the event.

Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority hosted its first roadshow in India in Mumbai at the St Regis Hotel. Around 18 delegates including Bahrain Tourism officials, Bahrain’s leading hotels and destination management companies participated at the event. Yousef Mohammed AlKhan, Director of Tourism Marketing & Promotion, Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority said, “We are here in India to showcase Bahrain offerings in Mumbai and Delhi to tour operators and travel industry. We have had got good growth from the India market this year. We have been witnessing an increase in tourist numbers from India as compared to last year. We are also working closely with Gulf Air to increase the numbers from India. 2018 will be a crucial year for us as we are extremely focused on the Indian market now.” Currently, Bahrain Tourism is looking to tap cities where they have direct flights after which they will focus on other Indian cities. The destination also showcased new products at the roadshow like pro diving and water sports activities, adrenaline sports like indoor skydiving, cultural and historical offerings for Indian tourists.

The 6th International Tourism Mart (ITM) organised by the Ministry of Tourism in association with the North Eastern States begins in Guwahati, Assam. Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam in the presence of Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister, Assam; K J Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Rashmi Verma, Union Tourism Secretary and other dignitaries from Central Ministries and North Eastern States inaugurated the three-day event. Besides foreign delegates, 50 domestic stakeholders and 103 sellers from the North Eastern States are participating in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of North East States will also showcase their tourism destinations. Held from December 5-7, the event will put the spotlight on India’s ‘Act East Policy’, blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region, home to the world’s rapidly growing economies. The panel discussions will also focus on promoting cultural ties, people-to-people contact with countries in the ASEAN region providing enhanced connectivity to the States of North Eastern Region, thereby developing inter-regional tourism between the ASEAN and North East Region of India. ITM – 2017 will also see an active participation by the Ministry of DONER to synergise the process of development of tourism of the North East Region.  

The 2nd edition of Travel Business Show, an exclusive MICE event, was held from December 2-3 at Le Meridien Gurgaon. The show was inaugurated by MA Teresita C. Daza, Ambassador of the Philippines to India, who was also the chief guest for the evening. Tourism and MICE continues to be a great contributor to the economy of nations, Daza said. “In 2016, the Philippines economy grew by 6.8 per cent, faster than 5.9 per cent expansion in 2015.  In the third quarter of 2017, it grew by 6.9 per cent. The top source markets for the Philippines from Asia include China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Currently, India ranks as the 12th largest source market for the Philippines. Many Indians visit Manila, Cebu, Palawan, Angeles and Boracay,” she informed. Giving an insight in the popularity of the Philippines as a destination for Indians, she added, “In 2016, the record of Indian arrivals in the Philippines was 90,000, which is an average of about 246 Indian passengers per day.  This number of Indian arrivals is very encouraging, despite visa requirements for Indians travelling to the Philippines.” On the visa policy, she informed, “To provide better visa services to Indian travellers, the Philippines has already instituted a 14-day free visa for Indian nationals, who are holders of  visas for USA,  Japan, Australia, Canada, Schengen, Singapore and the UK, from all international airports and seaports of the country.”

The Ministry of Tourism in association with the North Eastern States is set to organise the International Tourism Mart (ITM) in Guwahati, Assam from December 5-7, 2017. The event will be held at Taj Vivanta, and will be inaugurated by Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam in the presence of Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister, Assam and K J Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, along with other dignitaries from Central Ministries and North Eastern States. The 6th ITM will focus on India’s ‘Act East Policy’, blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region. Besides deliberations on promotion of tourism in the North East Region, the panel discussions will also lay emphasis on promoting cultural ties, strengthening contact with countries in the ASEAN region and providing enhanced connectivity to the North Eastern states. The ITM 2017 will also see an active participation by the Ministry of DONER to synergise the process of development of tourism in the North East region.