Category Archives: Exhibitions

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. “

Artem Chernyshov, Event Director, MITT has confirmed that MITT 2020 will proceed as planned. There is no directive from the Russian government to halt any event or impose any ban on the entry of foreigners to Russia. The organisers are currently making all necessary preparations to run the 27th edition of the Russian travel trade show as planned in Crocus Expo, Moscow from 17-19 March 2020. The update came following the rapid outbreak of coronavirus globally. MITT is taking extra measures to ensure the health and safety of all exhibitors, visitors and staff. For any other queries, people can contact the official call-centre on 8 800 555 43 43 designated by the Russian Federation. The organisers are also in constant touch with WHO and the Russian Federation to stay up to date with the latest developments. With IMEX due to take place in the middle of May (still 10 weeks away), the IMEX team continues to plan confidently for the show. They currently have NO plans to postpone or cancel. They are very grateful for the ongoing support of their exhibitors and attendees who continue to register and plan for the show and they have not experienced any substantial impacts so far. The IMEX team remains in close contact with their partners in Germany, as well as the relevant health authorities. As this unprecedented situation is changing every day, they remain watchful but also focused on delivering what is an extremely important event for the global business events community. Mindful of our duty of care, they are also carefully considering and consulting with experts on what the appropriate sanitary, health and other measures should be. Ray and I assure you …

The ITB India organisers have announced to postpone ITB India 2020 due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. Originally scheduled to be held on 15- 17 April 2020 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, the show is now scheduled to be held on 7 – 9 April 2021 at the same venue. The participants of the show can reach the organising team by sending queries with regards to ITB India directly to exhibitor@itb-india.com. Significantly, it was the first-ever edition of ITB India. The 3-day B2B travel trade show was being organised by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and supported by Messe Berlin (Singapore). The ITB India organisers will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates based on official assessments of the overall risk situation.

After announcing the cancellation of ITB Berlin 2020, organisers Messe Berlin have announced dates for the event in 2021. It will take place from March 10-14. On Friday, the German Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Economics had stated their opinion that ITB Berlin 2020 be cancelled in view of rapidly spreading coronavirus threat in Germany and other parts of Europe. More than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries were expected to attend ITB Berlin 2020.

The German authorities have announced the cancellation of ITB Berlin, scheduled from March 4-8 in Berlin, Germany. The decision was taken in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak all around the world. As on Friday, 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country according to the German government’s health authority. Considered as one of the largest tourism fairs in the world, 100,000 visitors from across the globe were expected to attend the event. Paragraph 9.1 of the agreement between Messe Berlin (ITB) and exhibitors says if the event is cancelled due to higher force (authority) and in case neither Messe Berlin or the exhibitor has caused, exhibitors will not have to pay their stand fees. Making the announcement, Dr Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, said: “With more than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries, ITB Berlin is of outstanding importance for the global tourism industry. We take our responsibility for the health and safety of our guests, exhibitors and employees very seriously. It is with a heavy heart that we look forward to the cancellation of ITB Berlin 2020, which has now become necessary”. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Berlin Wolf-Dieter Wolf explained, “In their now 54-year history ITB Berlin and Messe Berlin have never before experienced a comparable situation. We would like to thank all exhibitors and partners around the world who have supported ITB Berlin in the past days and weeks, and look forward to continuing our trusting cooperation with our partners in the market”.

The Accor Showcase took place at the Pullman New Delhi Aerocity on 26 February and will take place in  Sofitel Mumbai BKC on 28 February. Rohit Chopra, Regional Director Sales-India, Accor, says, “The event is growing strength by strength and doing very well.  We have hotels here from all different categories. We have multiple Raffles, Fairmont from different countries who are looking to tap M!CE and wedding segment. This year we have participants from Baku, Azerbaijan, London, North Europe etc.”

The Accor Showcase took place at the Pullman New Delhi Aerocity on 26 February and is slated to take place in  Sofitel Mumbai BKC on 28 February. Speaking at the event, Jean–Michel Cassé, COO, Accor, India and South Asia, says, “ It is now four years since we are conducting this exercise of the Accor Showcase. It is an opportunity for our hotels in India and across the world to come and present themselves to the Indian market. They come and showcase whatever products and services they have for the Indian market.  It has been very successful in the last few years and in spite of the challenging times, we are really happy that it is happening this year again in 2020.” On their upcoming hotels, he said, “We have one opening expected very soon, mid-March, which is Grand Mercure in Bengaluru, mid-2020 we will be opening Raffles in Udaipur, that is truly our first exclusive luxury property opening for the Indian market, we also have very high expectations for this brand to succeed in India as it will be the first Raffles in India.  Across 23 cities in India, we are offering a  variety of brands and services for the travel trade to choose from.” Rohit Chopra, Regional Director Sales-India, Accor, says, “The event is growing strength by strength and doing very well.  We have hotels here from all different categories. We have multiple Raffles, Fairmont’s from different countries, they are looking to tap the M!CE and wedding segment. This year we have participants from Baku, Azerbaijan, London, north Europe and also representatives from the USA, global sales, so it’s a very proud moment for us that we are …

Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, MOT, will be travelling for ITB Berlin 2020 with a delegation of around 49 exhibitors, which will be led by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism and Culture. The format has been changed this time for ITB Berlin, as there will not be a presentation and press conference, but a panel discussion instead. “We will be having a breakfast meeting with the German FTOs in Berlin. We have a panel discussion on the first day, which will focus on global trends in tourism focusing on Incredible India and will be moderated by a CNN journalist. It will have around 5 panelists including German tour operators who will be talking about India and their experience. While there will not be a specific campaign for ITB Berlin, we will project the efforts we are taking and the whole range of offerings we have been developing at MOT. Apart from that we have small group engagements and one-to-one engagements at the VIP lounge at India Pavilion of ITB. We are trying to project India as an experiential and transformational destination for the travellers, which is one of the key messages that we are putting across,” he shares. “The Ministerial delegation would consist of 49 co-exhibitors, including state governments, tour operators, hotels, wellness centres, as well as Ayurveda society. We’ve taken a huge space of 705 sq. m. CMD, ITDC, will also be there. It will be a combined marketing effort by the Government and the stakeholders,” reveals Verma.