Category Archives: Exhibitions

The theme of Maharashtra Tourism’s stall at ITB Berlin this year was ‘Sustainable Tourism’ and ‘Tourism 360-degree’ to offer new avenues of tourism. The delegation was led by Vijay Gautam, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture and Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC who presided over key B2B meetings and spoke about the prospects of ensuing collaborations with counterparts to attract tourists all across the globe. Maharashtra aims to provide a meaningful experience to travellers, creating awareness about sustainability matters and encouraging these practices among them. The response generated by travel and tour operators for MTDC’s initiative at ITB Berlin 2018 was promising.

The Indian delegation led by KJ Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, highlighted the country’s tremendous tourism potential at the 52nd ITB Berlin as it kicked off at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds on March 7. Addressing the media, Alphons spoke about the country’s 5000 year-old civilisation, beautiful beaches, backwaters, desserts, coastline, Himalayas, and immense possibilities for millennials who are looking for adventure. The minister also apprised the audience about the growing yoga and ayurveda related activities and centres in the country, exploring the North East and the great potential of religious tourism, with emphasis on Buddhist tourism. “In terms of general numbers, India has done considerably well last year. 2017 was fantastic! We recorded 15.6 per cent, when the global numbers went up by 5 per cent. Our international tourists arrivals were 16.5 million last year. Are we happy with the numbers? No. We have so much to offer and we want to double the numbers in three years or less, double the revenues in three years or less. India’s tourism contributes about 8 per cent to the GDP of India. We have 14 million people employed in the tourism industry,” Alphons said. In terms of domestic tourism, close to 24 million Indians travelled last year. “In 2017, 1.8 million trips were made by Indians within the country and which will go up to 2 million in 2018 and we want this number to increase dramtically, its not just about international arrivals but also Indians visting India,” he said. The minister also stressed on the growing use of new technologies and methodologies in tourism, specially social media. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of …

More than 2,000 attendees, 1,000 airline and airport representatives, and 150 speakers will attend the Aviation Festival 2018 from February 27-28 at the Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore. The festival will take place over two days with over 150 presentations taking place, 24 round-table debates and loads of networking in overall 100 exhibition booths. The festival will be an experience and one designed to help the attendees get the most out of the two days. In 2004, the World Low Cost Airlines Congress Asia was launched in Singapore. The low cost airline model was starting to shake up the aviation industry and the event was a place where the industry could meet and form partnerships. With a modest 234 attendees in the first year, the event grew steadily over the past 13 years, reaching over 1,800 attendees in 2017, establishing itself as a must attend event for Asian low cost carriers and their partners. But these days it looks a little different. World Low Cost Airlines Congress is still a large part of the festival, drawing in low cost carriers from across Asia and the Middle East. But now there are seven more events under the festival banner that will cater to full-service airlines and airports as well.

Jharkhand Tourism has announced the inaugural edition of Jharkhand Travel Mart to be held in Ranchi from March 23-25, 2018. Dr. Manish Ranjan, IAS, Secretary–Tourism, Govt. of Jharkhand, said, “Jharkhand will contribute immensely to the Indian tourism portfolio with its diverse range of travel and tourism destinations. The Jharkhand Travel Mart is an extension of our aggressive marketing approach to introduce more tourism destinations and attractions, and reinforce the Jharkhand Tourism brand among the media, buyers and stakeholders.” The event will seek support from all major national travel trade and hospitality association in India such as ‘Association of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India (ADTOI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), Hotel Association of Jharkhand, Travel Agents Association of Jharkhand, and Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries. Jharkhand Tourism has also scheduled B2B roadshows in key markets such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Asansol, etc to promote the state and the inaugural edition of the mart. Source: UNI

The third edition of the Bengal Travel Mart (BTM) 2018 has been scheduled to be held from February 16-18 at Baghajatin Park, Siliguri. The objective is to establish Siliguri as a market place for gateway to the Eastern Himalayas. The event is being organised by Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA) in association with North Bengal Development Department (NBDD) and West Bengal Tourism. Buyers from India abroad are expected to participate in the event. BTM attracts exhibitors to showcase their expertise and identify the thriving business opportunities in West Bengal.

The annual hospitality event, Hotel Investment Conference-South Asia (HICSA), will be held in Mumbai from April 4-5 at the Grand Hyatt. The first 13 editions was organised by HVS but this year, the conference will be conducted by Hotelivate. Confirming this is Manav Thadani, Founder Chairman, Hotelivate, who reveals, “HICSA is being organised by the Hotelivate team and we have made a few changes to the same. The idea is to make the sessions more interesting and interactive. Firstly, there will be far fewer speakers than before as we have reduced the number of panel discussions and substituted them with more interviews, keynote addresses and master classes. So you will see a lot more interesting speakers at the conference who will talk about their experiences with hotels from their fields. Suhel Seth, Roshan Abbas and Deep Karla are just a few such names.” Thadani adds, “We believe with interest levels in hotels on the rise this year, we will have more people registering for the conference. I also believe that international participation at the event is expected to go up if we are to go by early trends in terms of who all are attending.”

Themed on ‘ASEAN-Sustainable Connectivity, Boundless Prosperity’, the ongoing 37th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2018) at the Chiang Mai Exhibition and Convention Centre will conclude on January 26. Hailed as the largest travel trade event of the ASEAN region, ATF is rotated annually among the 10 ASEAN countries. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said, “This year, we are proud to mark the first ATF after commemorating the 50th anniversary of ASEAN in 2017. We are delighted to have participated strongly in the ‘Visit ASEAN@50’ campaign with a series of carefully selected Thai products, tour packages and offers to bring memorable travel experiences.” ATF is the only annual opportunity for both public and private sectors of the ASEAN travel and tourism industry to get together and discuss issues and trends of the ASEAN tourism industry. Thailand is hosting the event for the sixth time, but has relocated it for the first time to Chiang Mai as part of the policy to promote secondary destinations, create more jobs in the rural areas, ensure better distribution of tourism earnings and highlight Thailand’s linkages with the Greater Mekong sub-region countries.    

IFEMA kicks off the international schedule of tourism trade fairs with FITUR 2018, one of the greatest business platforms for world tourism in Madrid from January 17-21 with India as its Partner Country. Like every year, the event will allow agents from the travel and tourism industry to establish the lines of work that will set the programme for the entire year. Many business meetings are being held, and contacts and business exchanges being made. The international trade show is set to generate 260 million euros over its five days, and strengthen various sectors connected to tourism. The tourism fair has grown by 8 per cent and international participation has grown by 13 per cent this year.  

The Hyderabad edition of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) will be conducted from June 28-30. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, GPS, announced the new dates at the first edition of GPS this year in Nagpur, which is going on till January 17. Hyderabad is the latest city to host GPS this year, taking the total count of the cities to eight. The event is dedicated towards Tier-II, and Tier-III cities in the country to empower agents in these cities.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is back with the 38th Thailand Tourism Festival (TTF), to be held from January 17-21, 2018 at Lumphini Park, Bangkok. H.E. Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and Sports will preside over the opening ceremony. The festival will showcase attractions and culture from all corners of the Kingdom of Thailand. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor, TAT, said, “The incredible experiences and attractions on offer across Thailand are being showcased at this year’s TTF, coupled with an array of food, culture, live music, and more.” The 38th edition of the festival will be made up of ten zones, including ‘Follow in the King’s Footsteps – the Art and Science of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’ in Zone 1. Zone 2 will have domestic travel products – introducing all that’s on offer for domestic travellers. Zone 3 would have ‘Discover Thainess in five regions – the Northern village will feature King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s ‘Sufficiency Economy Philosophy’, information about local hill tribes and Doi Tung coffee shops.