A journey of almost a quarter of century and 24 edition of the event, SATTE has emerged as the subcontinent largest and foremost and the only international travel show that both the exhibitors and buyers from across the world participate to showcase as well as shop for the diverse global travel and tourism products and services in this part of the world. Spread over an area of 18,000 square meters, SATTE 2017 recorded its biggest ever event attracting over 850 exhibitors from across the world, 35 countries and 25 Indian states as well as buyers from over 50 countries and thousands of those who came from different parts of India to shop for various domestic and international tourism products.
Addressing the delegates at SATTE 2017 inaugural function, Michael Duck, Executive Vice President, UBM Asia said, “India is one of the largest and fastest growing travel markets. And it has been the constant endeavour of UBM India to provide a platform for the inbound, domestic and also outbound segments thus meeting the larger industry needs of India. Being the only composite travel and tourism show in this part of the world, SATTE provides a platform for domestic and international buyers and professionals from across the travel, tourism and hospitality domain.”
SATTE’s buyer programme has been well supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Acknowledging the same, Duck said, “We are proud to partner with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Make in India initiative of the Government of India and all major travel and tourism associations in India, State Tourism Board and National Tourism Offices.”
Over the years SATTE has actively supported various industry led initiatives in the travel and tourism arena. The inaugural function also served as the platform for the UNWTO secretary to reinforce his message on the ‘International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 (IYSTD 2017).’
In his video message to the SATTE delegates on IYSTD 2017, UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai said, “It is a unique opportunity to promote better future and better life for all of us. And it comes at a critical moment for all of us. Over one year ago the world leaders agreed upon 17 Sustainable Development Goals to guide our developments until 2030. My dear friends, tourism builds peace and understanding, social inclusion and better livelihood for all of us. Tourism generates jobs and opportunities, grows our GDP, our trade and our exports. Tourism can help to preserve our world’s rich natural and culture diversity and heritage. The International Year is a golden opportunity to promote this, and celebrate the transformational power of tourism.”
Congratulating the 24th edition of SATTE and UBM for successfully organising the event year after year, Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (I/C), Government of India, made an impassioned plea to promote ‘India, the land of spirituality and divinity’. “We have taken initiatives that now connect almost 160 countries through e-visa facility. It is a vision of our government to take tourism to the new heights. We are taking care of our infrastructure through Ministry of Roads and Transport. The country has 7,500 km of coastline, beautiful four weathers, 73 per cent of the Himalayas, and more, but need help from friends in the travel industry to promote the destination,” the Minister said. He also spoke of the new regional connectivity scheme where 50 more airports in the tier II and tier III cities of the country are being brought on the air travel network.
SATTE has played significant role in the growth and development of destinations. Malaysia that has been participating in SATTE for the many years now has seen India emerge as its 6th largest source market and is now vying to break the one-million India arrival mark this year. Speaking at the inauguration, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia said, “I am pleased to see that SATTE has grown from strength to strength over the last two decades. Our delegation from Malaysian Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Tourism Malaysia and member of the Malaysian travel and trade fraternity are excited to be part of this wonderful event.
“India has long been viewed as a very important market for Malaysia. I always believe that close cultural ties between India and Malaysia with long history and cultural affinity can reach even greater heights through tourism. India is the sixth top tourist generating market for us. And this year we hope to achieve as much as one million arrivals from India. A lofty ambition, but one which is achievable with the full support of our partners here,” Aziz said.
Acknowledging SATTE growing stature on the global tourism arena, Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, said, “I am happy to note that SATTE 2017 is being represented by more exhibitors and participant than previous years. With over 850 exhibitors and participants from more than 35 countries and more than 25 Indian states, SATTE has certainly emerged as an internationally known platform for the domestic and international buyers. The outcome of SATTE 2017 will also provide necessary inputs to formulate new policy or to make mid-course correction in our policy. Ministry of Tourism has always been supportive of SATTE and SATTE 2017 is completely in sync with every initiative take by the ministry to increase India’s share in the global tourism market. I hope SATTE will continue to highlight the diversity of Indian tourism to all its participants and hope this edition will turn out to be the best edition ever.”
Zutshi also congratulated UBM for introducing the start-up pavilion for the first time and also congratulated the winners of the first SATTE Awards. The Tourism Secretary further highlighted the impressive double digit growth last year, e-Tourist Visa, cruise related initiatives, impressive growth on the domestic tourism front and infrastructure related initiatives, among others.
While congratulation UBM India for successfully organising the 24th edition of SATTE this year, Junichi Kumada, Senior Officer, Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, UNWTO, said that India as a destination has never ceased to excite him any less every time that he has been here. “Every time that I visit India, I am more and more impressed by its unique beauty and culture that is unparalleld in the world. The lovely people, delicious India cuisines, heritage sites, thousand years of history,” he said.
Kumada highlighted the continued growth in international travel, and particularly impressive growth in arrival in South Asia. “Despite well known global challenges, international tourism continued to grow reaffirming its importance to economic growth and job creation in an increasing number of countries. In 2016, 1.24 billion tourists crossed international borders, four per cent more than 2015. Asia and Pacific led the growth seeing 8.4 per cent growth in international arrivals that translate into 303 million tourists in 2016, 24 million more than 2015. South Asia increased by 9.4 per cent. Asia and the Pacific is coming to be seen as new centre of gravity of growth in global travel. UNWTO maintains that this region will maintain above average growth of five to six per cent in 2017,” he informed.
Kumada also outlined UNWTO’s three key priority areas for the global tourist sector, namely promoting safe, secure and seamless travel; enhancing the role of technology and innovation in tourism and embracing the sustainable agenda in tourism.
Also speaking at the event, Subhash Goyal, Member, NTAC, said, “SATTE has come a long way. When SATTE was established 24 years ago, its main purpose was to bring India to the world, otherwise we were going to ITB and WTM. It brought buyers and sellers from all over the world and the small Indian tour operators who were not able to afford going to ITB and WTM can have B2B meeting within India. Today, SATTE has come of age. This is the biggest show that is taking place on the Indian subcontinent. We really need to support it. From South Asia and South East Asia, let SATTE be the biggest Asian show,” he urged the industry and stakeholders.
Earlier, addressing dignitaries in his opening remarks at SATTE 2017 inaugural function, Yogesh Mudra, Managing Director, UBM India said, “We are proud to organise the 24th edition of SATTE supported by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, all major travel and tourism associations in India, State Tourism Boards, National Tourism Offices from across the world, hotels, airlines, cruise liners, theme parks and others.”
Mudras pointed that SATTE in its scope has always been a catalyst in driving business in this sector. “It is a comprehensive show in the tourism industry with participation from states, international tourism boards, hospitality companies, DMCs, OTAs and other tourism products as well. Also, there are a few countries participating in the fare for the first time. This year we are glad to host a bigger show with more than 850 exhibitors from over 35 countries. Altogether, we have exhibitors and buyers from over 50 countries,” he informed.
Mudras further that taking cognizance of the growing travel business, SATTE 2017 provides a unique pavilion for start-ups in travel business to showcase their offerings. Besides, three day of conferences with pertinent panel discussion lined up over the three business days. He also expressed excitement on the first edition of SATTE Awards this year. The SATTE 2017 Awards attracted as many as 270 entries in 18 categories in the first year itself.
