Category Archives: Exhibitions

The 5th edition of Travel Business Show, an exclusive MiCE B2B show, is all set to take place on Dec 1 and 2, 2018 at the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel. The two-day event will see networking and business meetings between approximately 30 exhibitors and 60 buyers from across the country. With an expected 1700 pre-scheduled meetings within two days, the event is aimed to provide the perfect platform for service providers, destinations and hotels to connect with selected MiCE operators and agents participating in the event.

Delegates at the 65th Travel Agents Association of India’s convention and exhibition were warmly welcomed in Kunming, China. The three-day convention highlighted the theme ‘Tourism Beyond Boundaries’ and hopes to further strengthen tourism ties between India and China. Located in the Yunnan province of China, Kunming is an ideal golf destination and the TAAI Convention started with a golf tournament with players participating from both the countries. Known for popularising unknown destinations, TAAI has brought Kunming on the tourism map.

Geared up to capitalise on the upcoming festive season, Tourism Authority of Thailand has recently introduced some attractive scheme and offers to ensure maximum footfalls from India and other countries to Thailand. This year Thailand has already recorded 919,130 tourist arrivals from India a Y-O-Y increase of 13.24 per cent. Recently the government granted a visa-on-arrival fee waiver for tourists from 20 countries. From 15 November, 2018, to 13 January, 2019, citizens of Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China including Taiwan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan will be exempted from the 2,000 Baht visa-on-arrival fee for the purpose of touring in Thailand not more than 15 days. Tourism Authority of Thailand now launches Amazing Thailand Grand Sale ‘Passport Privilege’ campaign during the same period.” Tourism Authority of Thailand gives delightful experiences in shopping and using services for foreign tourists who come to Thailand during November 15, 2018 – January 15, 2019. The campaign will help tourists to increase buying power on a variety of products and services from leading service providers Furthermore tourist travelling to Thailand (arriving at Suvarnabhumi and Donmuang Airport) can now avail of E Visa on Arrival. The Nation Immigration Bureau acting commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakpal officially launched the e-Via on Arrival (E-VOA) system that is expected to cut visa processing time to as little as one minute. Surachate presided over a ceremony to launch the new system, which has been used on trial basis at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports since November 15. The launch ceremony was held at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The facility is available at Phuket International Airport since …

The Ministry of Tourism, in association with the Department of Tourism, Government of Tripura and the north-eastern states is organising “7th International Tourism Mart” in Tripura from November 22-24, 2018. To be held at the Pragna Bhawan, the event will be inaugurated by Professor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor, Tripura, in the presence of KJ Alphons, Union Minister for Tourism; Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister, Tripura; Rashmi Verma, Union Tourism Secretary and other dignitaries from central ministries and north-eastern states. The event aims at highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets by bringing together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight north-eastern states. The event has been planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers, sellers, media, government agencies and other stakeholders. The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati, Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal. The ITM will see wide participation of International buyers and media delegates from countries around the world and from different regions of the country. They will be engaging in business-to-business meetings with sellers from the North Eastern Region. A total of 41 foreign delegates from 18 countries namely Australia, Canada, China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UAE and the USA will be in Tripura for the mart. These include 23 tour operators and travel agents, 18 media representatives, journalists, travel writers and bloggers. The three-day event will also include presentations by state governments of the region on their tourism potential, panel discussion, cultural evenings, sightseeing visits to local attractions in and around Agartala and a press meet on November 23.

The Ultimate Travelling Camp (TUTC) has introduced its new luxury camp ‘Sangam Niwas’ for the Kumbh Mela 2019 scheduled to take place in Allahabad from January 10 to March 06 . Specially curated for the discerning traveller, TUTC’s latest offering aims to provide the quintessential essence of the Kumbh Mela to seekers of spirituality. Positioned at the highest point of the Kumbh Mela, Sangam Niwas is located on a hillock overlooking the Sangam and offers the perfect vantage point for guests to soak in the atmosphere and experience the largest spiritual congregation in the world. Sharing more details at a press conference, Rajnish Sabharwal, Chief Operating Officer (COO), TUTC said that the company is setting up 44 glamps (glamorous camps) at the mela site. “Sangam Niwas offers a perfect opportunity to closely experience Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Our camps offer exceptional services such as unlimited WiFi at the Reception Tent, 24/7 security and paramedic on site, 24/7 electricity, the library at Reception Tent, Wellness Center for rejuvenation and temple for the evening ‘aartis’,” he said.

FITUR 2019 broadens business opportunities in its new B2B event, FITUR MITM – MiCE & Business. This new B2B space is focused on MiCE tourism. FITUR MITM – MiCE & Business, co-organised with MITM Events – GSAR Marketing, will offer the opportunity to form business ties among a selection of professionals and exhibitors attending the upcoming edition of FITUR organised by IFEMA to be held from January 23-27, in the fairgrounds of IFEMA. The format of FITUR MITM – MiCE & Business will consist of an agenda of up to 30 pre-established appointments among exhibiting companies interested in participating in the programme – consisting of a maximum of 100 companies with priority given to main stand holders and 100 highly qualified international executives (corporate, incentive houses, event and congress organisers and international associations). In the last few years, meetings tourism has been experiencing a notable growth, becoming a key sector for the industry, proof of that are the 12,558 international association congresses held worldwide in 2017, according to data from the International Congress and Convention Association, ICCA. Likewise, the ranking positioned Spain in the fourth place worldwide (564 congresses), only behind United Kingdom (592), Germany (682) and United States (941).    

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is set to organise PATA Travel Mart 2019 in Astana, Kazakhstan in September. The event will be hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kazakh Tourism National Company JSC. “As the destination stands at the crossroads between Asia and Europe, it is the perfect venue to organise the association’s signature travel trade exhibition in a uniquely transformational city that blends various cultures and heritages of both the East and West,” said Dr Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA. Yerlan Kozhagapanov, Vice Minister of Culture And Sport, Republic of Kazakhstan, said, “We are honoured to be the bid winner and are grateful for the opportunity to host PATA Travel Mart 2019. We are positioning Astana as a MiCE hub for Central Asia and looking forward to welcoming PATA members, hosted buyers and visitors at PATA Travel Mart 2019.” According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Kazakhstan received a total of over 7.7 million total visitors in 2017. Special discounts are available for sellers located within Central Asia, while early bird discounts are available for those registering before December 31, 2018.  

Bharat Bhushan Atree, CMD, CTC Holding, received the TravTalk-WTM World Travel Leaders Award for Hi-Life Tours at the recently held World Travel Market in London. The World Travel Leaders Awards honours companies and individuals for their outstanding contribution to the industry over the last 24 months voted for by the WTM Media Partners. Speaking on the occasion, Atree said, “Awards like these keep us motivated and eggs us to work harder and harder. It puts us on the global recognition platform because this company is catering to online tourism and it makes a lot of difference when such organisations recognise us for our good work. We hope to get a lot of positive response from our partners, who have been wanting to work with us but have been thinking about it, a recognition from a platform like this will instill more confidence among them.”

The India pavilion at World Travel Market 2018 in London was packed with activities for the trade and consumers alike. Addressing a press conference, Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, enlisted the achievements of the Ministry. Accompanying Verma were Pramod Kumar Singh, Tourism Minister, Bihar; Vellamandi N Natarajan, Tourism Minister, Tamil Nadu; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism and Charanjeet Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK. Verma highlighted, “Last year has been a very good year for India tourism with a growth of about 14 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and about 19 per cent in terms of foreign receipts, much more than the global growth of 6.8 per cent. We also crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. This was possible because of our adoption of the multi-pronged strategy. We focus hugely on creating world-class infrastructure in and around our tourist sites.” She pointed out, “Incredible India 2.0 campaign is more thematic in nature. Looking at the needs and demands of major markets like the US and the UK, we have made some thematic films on niche products like adventure, yoga, Ayurveda, etc. This campaign focuses heavily on social media besides print and electronic media. We are hopeful that through this new Incredible India campaign we will be able to encourage people to revisit india, stay longer and experience the various products we have on offer.” The MOT also recently concluded two new events — India Tourism Mart (ITM) and Paryatan Parv —to create awareness about India both internationally and domestically. “More than 250 foreign buyers participated at the first-ever ITM. Buddhist Conclave was also held to showcase various Buddhist destinations in India.” The key initiative of introduction …

The first International Investment Tourism Forum is set to be held in Tashkent from November 19-21, 2018. Representatives of international financial institutions, potential foreign investors, international tourism organisations, leading tourism companies, experts and specialists of the sphere will attend the forum along with domestic entrepreneurs. The forum is aimed at expanding international cooperation in tourism industry, attracting direct investments and promoting the country’s tourism potential among investors. Participants of the event will visit the regions of the country to become acquainted with ready projects offered to investors. They will also get acquainted with opportunities provided in Charvak free tourism zone, Samarkand city and Ancient Bukhara tourism zones, as well as small tourism zones in Surkhandarya region. The number of foreign tourists who visited Uzbekistan in the first half of 2018, almost doubled compared to the same period in 2017. In the first six months of this year, Uzbekistan attracted 2.6 million foreign tourists.