Category Archives: Exhibitions

The third Annual Convention of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) kicked off in Ras Al Khaimah with 180 delegates. The Convention was inaugurated by Shaji Thomas, Director-Destination Tourism Development, Ras Al Khaimah; Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI; Riaz Munshi, Convention Chairman and Vice President, OTOAI; Mohamed Khater, Senior Tourism Development Manager, Government of Ras Al Khaimah; Gurdeep Gujral, Joint Secretary, OTOAI; SanJeet, India Representative, Ras Al Khaimah, and Mahendra Vakharia, Chairman-Western Chapter, OTOAI. Sahni said, “Amidst the challenges in outbound tourism, there are growth opportunities and we need to seize them by raising our game and gearing up for growth. We need to up our value proposition and rise above the competition.” Thomas informed that India is the fourth largest source market for Ras Al Khaimah with Germany being the largest followed by UK and Russia. “India is a very important market for us. Earlier Indians used to stay 1.9 nights in RAK but now they stay for 2.25 nights which means they have explored more things to do at the destination. We have become a popular destination for weddings. This year we have 17 Indian boutique weddings and we hope to increase this number steadily.”

Indonesia-based travel and destination management company, Pacto, in collaboration with its India partner, AHS India, recently concluded the first leg of its annual two-city roadshow in Mumbai and is now headed towards Delhi. The 22-member delegation of Pacto represented 29 products in Mumbai, which included various hotels and attractions. Umberto Cadamuro, COO (Inbound), Pacto Ltd Indonesia, said, “This is a stable number as we usually get around 30 every year. This year we also have Indian restaurants and plenty of activities and attractions, apart from hotels, cruises, safaris and cultural shows in our kitty.” He also claimed that India is one source market that Indonesia cannot ignore. “While Australia and China are still a long way ahead, it is reasonable to assume that Japan which was number three for Indonesia for a very long time, will be overtaken by India this year. If this does not happen this year, then definitely by 2018. This is because of the increased airlifts with Malindo Air, Garuda Indonesia and AirAsia X,” Cadamuro commented.

Starting on August 29, the 10th Conventions India Conclave (CIC) of India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) is underway until August 31, at the Hyderabad International Convention Center. The event started with the lighting of lamp, in the esteemed presence of dignitaries including Chief Guest, Madhusudana Achary – Speaker, Telangana Legislative Assembly; Guest of Honour, B Venkateshan – Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of Telangana; Christina Z. Chongthu – Managing Director, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation; Suman Billa – Chairman ICPB & Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Chander Mansharamani – Vice Chairman, ICPB; and Amresh Tiwari – Honorary Secretary, ICPB. During the inaugural address, Billa revealed how 52 per cent of travel revolves around MICE and the need to leverage this market and tap its potential internationally as well. He also mentioned about the implementation of a corpus fund, created half by the government and the remaining half by ICPB, to help open the Indian conference market to the world. The Conclave shall have an exhibition, where the over 330 registered buyers and sellers aim to interact and exchange business. B2B meetings and sessions on topics of sustainability and associations to help member engagements are also scheduled to be held during the event. During the press conference, Billa talked about setting up an agency to procure relevant information for the destinations globally. They shall get a world-class consultant to help the government prioritise destinations and put a roadmap in place to help know the different nuances of different industries so as to structure and organise the meetings and conferences industry. On the follow-up of the announcement of e tourist visa and group visa for MICE, he said that the …

In its last leg for the year, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) hosted it’s first ever showcase in the city of Pune. The Pune edition of GPS witnessed a response of 900 plus registrations. The first day which included product presentations and GST session by CA Manish Gadia, Tax expert, GMJ &Co had a attendance of over 350 plus attendees. Apart from buyers from Pune the attendees include buyers coming from cities like Nashik, Satara, Sangli, Kohlapur, Ahmednagar, Baramati, Karad etc. Next year, GPS will continue to showcase at Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Kochi and Pune. GPS will also be introducing Lucknow as a new city in 2018 and is also looking for other probable cities to host the exhibition.

Reaching out to the South India market, the Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) debuted in Kochi today. After successful shows in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Kolkata, GPS Kochi started with 750+ registrations on the first day. Buyers from cities like Salem, Coimbatore, Thrissur, Trivandrum, Calicut and nearby cities will be attending the three day event. The first day witnessed knowledge presentations by Interglobe Technology Quotient, FXkart, Genting Hong Kong, cyber security session by Prevoyance Cyber Forensic, Trawelltag Cover-More, Sahibji Group of Companies, Zanzibar Tourism and the much waited GST session by team GMJ & Co followed by presentations from Infozeal and Cleartax. The next two days will notice more buyers coming in as one on one b2b meetings begin.

With a 150 per cent growth in registrations in comparison to last year, GPS Chandigarh managed to outdo itself in this Tier-II city by some margin. “We received nearly 1000 registrations for GPS Chandigarh this year and with the excellent quality of buyers we have brought in, the number of exhibitors saw a growth of 30 per cent, registering 80 exhibitors over 50 exhibitors in the last edition,” revealed Harmandeep Singh Anand, Founder, Global Panorama Showcase (GPS). The show received over 600 buyers over the two days of the B2B session.  One of the key features of GPS this year was the paperless format, which was introduced last year but perfected this year. The use of technology in conducting a major business show like this was very well received by the trade present in Chandigarh who heralded it as a revolutionary and futuristic concept. The exhibitors were especially happy with the quality buyers that the show provided them from key market areas such as Punjab, J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh etc apart from local buyers from Chandigarh. The next stop for GPS this year is Kolkata which will be held from July 27-29, 2017 and is expected to bring to the fore vast tourism offerings from the eastern wing of the country.

The second leg of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) opened in Ahmedabad to an overwhelming response on day one. The first day began with product presentations by exhibitors and received 600 plus attendees. The product presentations were followed by the much-awaited session on GST by team GMJ & Co. There will be table top B2B meetings between exhibitors and buyers taking place on day 2 and 3 of the event.

The second edition of Travel Wedding Show concluded with over 2000 meetings conducted among 32 exhibitors and nearly 64 buyers from July 8-9, 2017, at Jaipur Marriott Hotel. Representatives from hotels and tourism boards exhibited their various products for wedding tourism. On day one of the show, travel agents and tour operators from across the country interacted with exhibitors while day two of the event saw the bigwigs of the wedding industry in India attend the show to meet and network with various exhibitors. Stalwarts of MICE, wedding tourism and hospitality industry like Hemant Mendiratta, Senior Vice President-Sales, The Oberoi Hotels; Saurabh Bhargava, AVP Sales-North, Taj Hotels Palace Resorts and Safaris; Hema Hariramani, Director, National Sales- India, Marriott International; Rajeev Jain, Vice President and Treasurer, EEMA and Vinod Bhandari, Partner, Wedding Xtraordinaire LLP, addressed various challenges faced by these industries in a panel discussion at the show. Sarika Rawal Bhambani, General Manager, Travel Show said, “The show was sold out and this is a positive sign that travel shows are making headway in connecting the right partners to take the industry forward. According to the feedback received, the buyers and exhibitors found the show very fruitful for their businesses and the connections they built at the show are seeds for their progress. There were around 2050 pre-scheduled speed meetings and with the kind of support we have received from the trade, we are sure that we will be able to take this show to greater heights.” She further informed that the next edition of Travel wedding Show will be held on July 7-8, 2018 in New Delhi.

The second edition of the Travel Wedding Show is all set to open to a full house at Jaipur Marriott Hotel. The show will witness 32 high-profile exhibitors including bigwigs from Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre, Taj Hotels & Resorts, The Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, AccorHotels, Abu Dhabi Tourism Board, Austria Tourism Board, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism, Destination Canada, among others. The Show will be graced by the Chief Guest, Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment while the Guest of Honour, Hema Hariramani, Director–National Sales India, Marriott International, will also address the gathering. The two-day event, organised by Pacific Leisure Group and DDP Exhibitions, aims to address the need for a consolidated face to-face opportunity between the travel fraternity and the weddings sector. On the first day of show, 32 wedding trade specialists from across the country, will showcase the variety of weddings they specialise in. On the second day of the show, 32 wedding planners and agents from across the country are expected to mark their presence at the event. The main agenda behind the show is to bring new business opportunities to its exhibitors. Sarika Bhambani Rawal, General Manager, Travel Wedding Show, says, “The idea is to amalgamate the two vibrant sectors–weddings and travel–a scenario that is seldom witnessed. The show has brought together a selected group of people to facilitate business for the growth of both these industries. Moreover, the two industries will interact in focused speed meetings which have proven to be more effective for business.” The Indian wedding industry is reportedly flourishing at a growth rate of 25 per cent per annum and is pegged at an estimated Rs. 250,000 crore ($40 billion).

The 25th edition of Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT) will be held from March 13-15, 2018, at Expocentre, Moscow, Russia. The 2017 edition, held from March 14-16, witnessed 1971 companies from 187 countries and regions of the world, comprising 23,047 visitors from 79 regions of Russia and 89 other countries in 40,000 sq.m. of exhibition area. For the first time, MITT was a B2B-only event. The exhibitors included leading operators of outbound, domestic and inbound tourism, national and regional tourism organisations, hotel chains, airlines and transport companies, and operators of search systems and tour booking services. Among the visitors at the event were 39% representatives of travel agents, 21% tour operators of search and booking systems for tour services, 11% hotels and accommodation and 8% corporate customers. A.U. Manilova, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, said, “MITT has established itself not only as the place for presenting the tourism potential of dozens of countries, but as the place to meet professionals in the tourism industry: from tourism administrations to representatives of national governments. I wish that the hope that both international exhibitors and the Russian regions (more than 60 Russian regions are exhibiting, which is very important for us) have come here with is realised. Now is a very good time for developing international tourism – both in Russia and throughout the world. Tourism never creates barriers, it only eradicates them. I wish everyone success.” O. P. Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency on Tourism, said, “I am confident that constructive dialogue, sharing experience, and expanding partner relations at MITT 2017 contributes to the further establishment of tourism as a high-revenue and dynamically growing industry of …