Anyone in doubt of the might of travel marts and conferences catering to the tourism fraternity need only look up the year’s calendar events. Almost every country worth it’s weight in the tourism field has an international travel mart lined up.
While the universal definition of a travel mart is a space where the fraternity comes together to encourage tourism and tourism exchange through business meetings, conferences and round table discussions, in very simple words it is a platform where the whole world gathers under one roof.
The growing importance of travel marts need not be spelled out for the trade community. It has become as much a part of the industry’s DNA as booking a hotel room. What is worth noting is that, instead of becoming monotonous over the years, travel events have found a way to keep up with the times, infuse new topics of discussion, and open its doors to new destinations, both in terms of participation and visitors.
Annual growth
Allow us to start by highlighting the most primary measure of growth – participation. The World Travel Market (WTM) started off in 1980 with a total 40 countries exhibiting with a total of 220 exhibitors. This year, the event will host more than 50,000 delegates, 5,000 exhibitors, 8,500 buyers, 3,000 press from 181 countries.
ITB Asia 2013 attracted close to 9,100 attendees, representing over 110 countries and is looking forward to a successful edition next month.
The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) grew from just 2,000 square metres in 1994 to just under 25,000 square metres and 33,000 exhibitors/visitors in 2014 (up 12 per cent year-on-year). IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific has grown healthily from its inaugural debut in 1993 of 300 exhibiting delegates and 200 buyers to the 2014 edition comprising 800 exhibiting delegates and 500 buyers.
But what keeps the exhibitors and visitors coming? What are the industry travel marts’ secret to continued success? According to Darren Ng, Managing Director, TTG Asia Media, travel marts’ key value is the face-to-face interaction and efficiency to comb prospects and leads in a matter of days. Technology may present alternatives that allow infinite connections digitally, but the trust factor is the biggest hurdle that only person-to-person rapport coupled with cultural and personal appreciation can overcome, he opined.
Paul Nelson, Press & PR Manager, WTM Portfolio stated that exhibitions are more important today than they ever have been. WTM, he added, saw a massive growth in participants during the recent global economic downturn. WTM 2014 will facilitate around GBP 2.5 billion in industry deals. The whole WTM Portfolio is responsible for GBP 4 billion worth of business.
Value addition
No event can survive unless it keeps adding value to it’s offerings. And that is a challenge international travel marts face and overcome year after year. “The value-add question is something that we address on an annual basis. As the industry, technology and even economies evolve, there are always opportunities to add further value, whether that be via seminar topics, the introduction of new industry verticals or a different approach to the way in which we structure our hosted buyer programme,” said Nadege Noblet, Exhibition Manager of Arabian Travel Market, WTM Portfolio, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
Nino Gruettke, Executive Director, ITB Asia stated that the travel industry is always evolving and there is a need for events to constantly keep their finger on the pulse to anticipate trends and prepare for any potential opportunities and challenges that may strike the industry to ensure that the conference content is always relevant and their delegates are at the forefront of it all.
Fresh blood
The number of NTOs entering the India market alone is proof of how much the tourism sector has grown world over. This has reflected in both new participants at travel marts, as well as new regions travel marts are making inroads into. 2013 saw the first WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, while this year saw the first WTM Africa in Cape Town. Both events have been a great success and will run in 2015 alongside WTM and Arabian Travel Market.
ATM welcomed over 120 new exhibitors in its 2013 edition. There were also several new destinations making their ATM debut, including Taiwan, the Caribbean and Slovenia. “We are also welcoming the Kyoto Convention Bureau, Jammu & Kashmir, the Muriya Tourism Development from Oman, Kish Island Free Zone, Kuwait Airways and IMG World of Adventures,” Noblet added.
India has always been an active participant in international travel fairs and conferences. What is reassuring is the continuous growth in participation from the market at these events. There was an increase of 30 per cent of Indian exhibitors from 2013 to 2014 at ATM.
“We’ve had several challenges with the India market, but we attribute it to teething issues and better understanding of the market. Our recent second instalment of the event has evidenced that buying interest from India remains healthy and robust,” said Ng.
The way forward
According to Ng, the space needs constant evolving and increasing sophistication, and event organisers need to keep up and deliver solutions that work.
“The travel market concept is well established and is here to stay. What is important to note is that tourism exhibition organisers need to stay ahead of the game in terms of awareness of global trends, technological influences and the ever-changing tourism and hospitality landscape so that they can develop their event model to meet the needs of their exhibitor and visitor audience,” Noblet concluded.
