Category Archives: Exhibitions

The Ministry of Tourism has partnered with CII for the Global Travel Mart and have changed the dates of the event from January to now February 1-4, 2017, according to an engagement letter by Federation of Associations of Indian Travel and Hospitality (FAITH) sent to its members. The letter reads that FAITH was in discussion with MOT and had prepared a concept statement for the global travel mart with them. Two key highlights of that, were, if that mart were not in partnership with FAITH, then it would be competitively bid out to PCOs who have created & run world scale tourism events, so as to start off with a Big Indian Tourism Bang. The other key requisite was the hosting date of the mart, to be in the shoulder period of 10th-14th January 2017. However, as of 30th June MOT has joined hands with CII and the dates have been now shifted to February. FAITH has addressed its concerns to the ministry regarding partnering with them and its member associations, and will be discussing it again.

India’s first travel wedding show was held from July 9-10. The show welcomed agents who are wedding specialists. Punam Singh, Associate, Pacific Leisure Group, said, “we have been successful in conducting the meetings. I think over the two days we have been able to do about 1200 meetings. Both exhibitors and buyers have found value from it. We had 30 buyers in each category. Everyone has gone back with at least 50 meetings.” Sarika Bhambani Rawal, General, Manager, Travel Wedding Show, said, “The show was very successful and all the buyers and sellers were satisfied. We will soon come out with Travel Experiential Show in October. We are equally excited about it.”

Ras Al Khaimah is actively promoting the destination for weddings. Speaking at the Travel Wedding Show, Shaji Thomas, Director – Destination Tourism Development, Ras Al Khaimah, said that realising the potential of the multi-billion dollar Indian wedding industry, the country is keen to grab a piece of the pie. “We are just 45 minutes away from Dubai and is home to fantastic, luxurious hotels capable of hosting larger-than-life weddings. We encourage you to host weddings here as it caters to all sorts of client genres, thanks to the infrastructure and tourism products like beaches.”

The maiden edition of Travel Wedding Show took off in full swing at Le Meridien, Gurgaon on Saturday, July 9. A total of 26 buyers and 28 exhibitors participated in the inaugural day of the B2B event where appointments took place in round robin format. The first day held emphasis on wedding planners and event management companies while the exhibitors were representatives from different hotels and resorts, and DMCs. “There have been events focussing on either weddings or travel, but never together. Travel Wedding Show aims to bring a select group of  people together and facilitate business for the growth of the industry,” shared Sarika Bhambani Rawal, General Manager, Travel Wedding Show.

The Indian wedding industry is flourishing at a growth rate of 25 per cent per annum and is pegged at an estimated Rs 250,000 crore ($40 billion), said Rajeev Jain, Managing Director, Rashi Entertainment, keynote speaker at the Travel Wedding Show. In his speech, Jain said that with Indians spending 80% of their wealth on weddings, the sector has proved to be a great contributor to GDP. About 8% of Indians opt for destination weddings from which connectivity and accessibility is the chief factor while choosing locations. The inauguration of Travel Wedding Show also witnessed speaker sessions with Shaji Thomas, Director – Destination Tourism Development, Ras Al Khaimah, Guldeep Singh Sahni, President – OTOAI, and Rajneesh Rathi, Editor-in-Chief, Wedding Affair as the speakers.

The first Asia Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC) is all set to be held at the Hilton Colombo in Sri Lanka from Nov 27-29, 2016, in partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Club (SLTC). AHTIC will attract an international audience of senior figures and decision-makers involved in all aspects of hotel and tourism investment in South Asia. The conference will focus on hotel development and infrastructure plans in these key markets. Join us in Sri Lanka and hear from regions industry experts on the opportunities available in the region, find out what lessons they have learnt about doing business in the region and how they have overcome development and operational challenges. Find out how banks are working together with investors to drive this economy forward, and what developers and owners need to provide to attract the big operators.

The maiden edition of Travel Wedding Show will be inaugurated by Shaji Thomas, Director, Destination Tourism Development, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority along with Rajeev Jain, Director, Rashi Entertainment and Rajnish Rathi, Publisher/Editor, Wedding Affair. This exclusive closed-door event, to be held from July 9-10, 2016, in Gurgaon, aims to bring together a selective list of 30 exhibitors and 30 buyers under one roof. The first day will cater exclusively to wedding planners, while the second day will target specialised travel agents with experience of global weddings informed Sarika Rawal Bhambani, General Manager, Travel Wedding Show. “Travel Wedding Show aims to deliver real value by successfully targeting the right customers as well as the discerning wedding clients who have vast spending power and are frequent buyers of high quality fashion, jewellery and related services.” Speaking about the inaugural edition, Executive Chairman and Founder of PLG, Alwin Zecha said, “Our aim has always been to provide our clients with a complete range of services for all their business requirements with assistance from our experienced and dedicated staff. With this event, we intend on bringing the same level of expertise to the Indian market and thoroughly delighting our clients.”

The maiden edition of Travel Wedding Show will be held from July 9-10 in Gurgaon. The exclusive closed-door event aims to bring together a selective list of 30 exhibitors and 30 buyers under one roof. Speaking about the inaugural edition, Executive Chairman and Founder of PLG, Alwin Zecha said, “Our aim has always been to provide our clients with a complete range of services for all their business requirements with assistance from our experienced and dedicated staff. With this event, we intend on bringing the same level of expertise to the Indian market and thoroughly delighting our clients.” The first day will cater exclusively to wedding planners, while the second day will target specialised travel agents with experience of global weddings informed Sarika Rawal Bhambani, General Manager, Travel Wedding Show. “Travel Wedding Show aims to deliver real value by successfully targeting the right customers as well as the discerning wedding clients who have vast spending power and are frequent buyers of high quality fashion, jewellery and related services.”

ITB Berlin has announced its co-branded India show, Bharat International Tourism Bazaar, the first pure outbound show for the Indian market to be held in New Delhi from October 3 to 6, 2016 (Monday-Thursday). It is an alliance that focuses on the ‘Power of the Indian Traveller,’ and the show is expected to bring over 12,000 attendees, comprising industry and government, from within India and around the world.

Around 32 Foreign Tour Operators from 12 countries, and 10 corporates attended the first edition of Global MICE Travel Mart (GMTM). In all, 42 buyers and 27 sellers were in attendance. The next edition of GMTM will be held in July 2017, announced Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Immediate Past President, FICCI, and Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee at the inauguration of the 1st edition of Global MICE Travel Mart. Organised by FICCI in association with the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) and India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), the mart is being held from May 19-21 2016 at The Lalit, New Delhi. Dr Suri said that the conference is a step towards promoting India as a MICE destination and will be held annually here onwards. The FICCI-MRSS report on ‘India Inbound MICE Tourism – Trends and Opportunities’ was released during inaugural session where Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, Chander Mansharami, Vice Chairman – ICPB, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, MOT and Rahul Chakravarty, Director & Head – Tourism, FICCI, spoke about MICE tourism in India. A panel discussion on ‘Furthering MICE Tourism into India – Rejuvenating the Roadmap’ with several well-known industry professionals followed after.