Category Archives: Exhibitions

The 2017 edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) began in Nagpur on January 19, at Hotel Centre Point. The first day saw education seminars on pertinent issues like GST, art of guerrilla marketing, cyber security etc., where industry experts discussed and clarified various challenges being faced by the travel and hospitality industry. Over 1000 attendees from metro cities along with Tier II and Tier III cities joined the sessions at the show on the first day. The GPS App saw over 600 active users. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels, and co-founder, GPS, says, “We have been successful in creating probably the first ever e – exhibition. We have had over 1000 registrations for the six education sessions today. The attendees are exchanging cards and their presentations trough the app and the presentations are available in the application even after the event. GPS has become the biggest marketplace in the country.” This year the event is a six city exhibition and will also go to Ahmedabad (July 13-15), Chandigarh (July 20-22), Kolkata (July 27-29), Kochi (Aug 3-5) and conclude in Pune (Aug 10-12).

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, attended FITUR 2017, organised by Ifema in Madrid, encouraging the Indian travel fraternity at the first large-scale travel show for this year. FITUR in its 37th year has seen almost 10% more exhibition space, 62,494 square meters, and a 6% increase in direct stand holders with a total of 755 displaying the offerings of 9,672 companies, configure a professional business platform which sees its international offerings reinforced by 9% in terms of main standholders. UNWTO has picked FITUR as the venue for kicking off the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

The 36th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) has commenced in Singapore from January 16-20, 2017. Themed “Shaping Our Tourism Journey Together,” ATF 2017 will support the continuous, collective efforts by ASEAN members to address challenges and opportunities as ASEAN jointly develops and grows the tourism industry in the region. Highlights of the event include official launch of VisitASEAN@50 Campaign at the Opening Gala on January 18. The Visit ASEAN@50: Golden Celebration campaign will be officially launched by the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong; ASEAN Secretary General, Le Luong Minh and ASEAN Tourism Ministers. 50 special packages have been selected by ASEAN NTOs for the campaign, which aims to attract 121 million international visitor arrivals to the region by end of 2017, up from 109 million in 2015. For the first time, ASEAN will honour outstanding tourism communities measured against ASEAN’s CBT standards. All 10 ASEAN member states will share updates on their latest destination news, goals, partnerships and service innovations. Key highlights include information on Singapore’s new marketing strategy; Visit Laos Year 2018; Viet Nam’s new visa policies, including the visa exemption policy for European tourists; Myanmar’s update on tourism performance, skills development initiatives, and its new destination marketing promotions for 2017.

The first-ever Travel Experiential Show concluded with 650 meetings conducted among 23 exhibitors and 25 buyers on Dec 18, 2016 at Le Meridien Gurgaon where representatives from destination management companies, hotels, travel agents and tour operators, among others, met under one roof to network and explore opportunities. “From the feedback we’ve received, the show was a huge success,” stated Punam Singh, Associate, Pacific Leisure Group. “We welcomed a lot of familiar faces but also some new ones and the platform helped them discover newer avenues to further their business. We will surely be back next year to bring more people together.” Speaking at the inauguration, keynote speaker Sushil Shamal Wadhwa, Founder & CEO, Platinum World Group, highlighted, “The whole idea of experiential travel is presenting something exclusive and unique, be it the most expensive dinner that costs $300,000 for five people, or activities like archery and falconry in a destination like Mongolia. Experiences like these first turn you speechless and then into a storyteller. As the demand for luxury increases and people become more open to trying newer experiences, the segment will continue to evolve and grow.”

The two editions of Travel Show held on Dec 17 and 18, 2016, at Le Meridien Gurgaon recorded 1,300 meetings between around 25 exhibitors as well as 25 buyers on both days. The closed-door event which focused on MICE on the first day, and on Experiential and Luxury travel the second day, was inaugurated by Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators’ Association of India; Sushil Shamal Wadhwa, Founder & CEO, Platinum World Grroup and Shahnawaz Shah, Manager Marketing, SKICC. It presented an exclusive networking opportunity to a selective list of travel and hospitality professionals in a pre-scheduled one-on–one meeting format. Commenting on the show, Sarika Rawal Bhambani, General Manager, Travel Show said, “Successful meetings took place between the selected exhibitors and top-level buyers. It is an excellent platform for companies which are looking to gain a slice of demand or are looking to grow their existing shares.”

Travel Show is all set to commence its Travel Business Show-Beyond MICE, and Travel Experiential Show-Beyond Luxury editions on December 17 and 18, respectively, at Le Meridien Gurgaon. The event expects to attract more than 30 corporates and 25 agents for the two-day forum that offers unmatched networking opportunities in a pre-scheduled one-on–one meeting format. “We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Experiential and MICE show. After the outstanding response we received for Travel Wedding Show in July, we are expecting it to be a fruitful amalgamation for the industry people,” said Sarika Bhambhani Rawal, General Manager, DDP Exhibitions.

Riding high on the success of the first Bharat Parv, the cultural program’s 2nd edition, showcasing the rich heritage of India, will be held on January 26-31, 2017 in Red Fort, revealed Vinod Zutshi. “There will be theme based pavilions by all the states to highlight the country’s diverse culture, along with performances, food stalls etc. The last edition of Bharat Parv was well appreciated and because of that, we’ve decided to have another edition next year.”

The next edition of PATA New Tourism Frontiers Forum (NTFF) will be held in Palau from November 15-17, 2017. The event, generously hosted by the Palau Visitors Authority, consists of a one-day conference, networking events and a day of on-ground activities embracing a Technical Tour and Tourism Marketing Treasure Hunt. PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy stated, “On behalf of PATA, I would like to thank the Palau Visitors Authority for providing us the opportunity to showcase one of the most beautiful and pristine island paradises in the world.  The event will enable us to present the natural beauty, culture and heritage of this magnificent destination whilst also providing insights into how best to market lesser-known destinations and manage the increase in international visitor arrivals.” Nanae Singeo, Managing Director of Palau Visitors Authority, said, “We are extremely honoured that this important event is taking place next year in Palau. Palau is a small island nation of 20,000 people but known and recognised globally as a conservation leader. As the UNWTO has declared 2017 as the Year of Sustainability we could not ask for a better time to stage this event in Palau.” Palau is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. Comprising 586 islands, from the big island of Babeldaob to the smallest rock, approximately seventy-five percent of Palau is covered in native forest and mangrove. The country contains diverse terrain, flora and fauna, and a rich variety of wildlife.

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) has appointed Ankush Nijhawan, MD of Nijhawan Group, as its Executive Director with immediate effect. Talking about this development, Harmandeep Singh Anand, Co-founder, GPS, said, “We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ankush Nijhawan as Executive Director of GPS and I am sure this move will help us in making GPS one of the leading travel shows in India in Tier-II & III market space.” Anand added that his expertise will further assist in elevating GPS’ position and achieve its objective to educate and empower the travel fraternity in Tier-II and III markets. “GPS is all about innovation, involvement, engagement and excelling to reach acommon goal, which is to explore and unleash the tourism potential that lies in the Tier II & Tier III cities of India. Commenting on his appointment, Nijhawan said, “I am happy to be on board with GPS and our collaborative efforts as a team will further strengthen GPS to establish it as India’s only B2B travel show for the Secondary markets of recognition. We will offer our expertise in bringing more number of quality buyers to GPS as there is a new generation of travellers in Tier-II and III cities and educating and reaching out to travel trade in these markets become important. With our agent network, we are confident that, we will achieve in getting the right buyers to the show. Also with our international relationship and exposure, we are confident in influencing global exhibitors to participate in GPS. Anand says, “For GPS Nagpur(scheduled for January 19 to 21, 2017), the first event for the GPS 2017 calendar, nearly 70% of exhibition space has been sold with confirmations from …

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with the North East states and West Bengal is organising the ‘International Tourism Mart’ in Imphal, Manipur from November 23–25, 2016. 57 Buyer delegates from ASEAN, Japan, Korea, Australia,  New Zealand, Spain, Russia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Kenya, Oman, Canada, Brazil , South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United Kingdom and USA are participating in the Mart.The event is being held in the City Convention Centre, Sanjenthong, Imphal, Manipur and will be inaugurated on November 24, by Okram Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur in the presence of Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi and other dignitaries from North East states. Besides the foreign delegates, 80 domestic stakeholders in Tourism sector from other parts of the country including sellers from the North Eastern States and West Bengal are participating in the Mart. Representatives of State Tourism Departments of these State Tourism Departments are also present to showcase their tourism destinations and to interact with the delegates. The annual event is organised in the northeastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets. Buyer and Media delegates from around the world and from different regions of the country are participating in the Mart and will engage in one-to-one meetings with sellers from the North East Region. This will enable the tourism product suppliers from the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers, with the objective of promoting tourism to the region. An exhibition by State Tourism Departments from the North Eastern States and West Bengal is also being organised   to show case the tourism products of respective participating States. Post-mart familiarisations to …