Travel World

Where Travel Means Business

February 24-27, 2005 - Mumbai

feBusiness Traveller unveils the highlights of the first-ever international travel trade show that is about to hit Indian shores

Tourism economy in India has been on the upswing, especially in the past two years. India's outbound traffic almost touched six million in 2004, up from 4.8 million in 2003. A growth in demand for outbound tourism is expected to grow by 8.8 per cent per annum, in real terms, between 2004 and 2014. India certainly is displaying signs of its much overdue initiation to the clique of mature markets, both on the outbound and inbound plane. Against the backdrop of this upbeat scenario, the month of February will witness India’s first-ever international travel trade show TravelWorld across four days ie February 24-27, 2005. The event is the brain child of Express Travel & Tourism, India’s leading travel business magazine for the travel trade industry, and part of the Business Publications Division (BPD) of the Indian Express Group. TravelWorld will be integrated into the macro canvas of Express World. The event will front India's only B2B travel trade show alongside Hospitality World, Healthcare World and Medical Tourism Expo some of India's most relevant verticals. Given the pervasive relevance of travel in everyday life, it is inescapably interwoven into different industries. The ignorance of this trend has been an oversight that most Indian trade fair organisers have suffered from, thus falling into the trap of limited dimension. By integrating technology, wellness and the film industry into its ambit, TravelWorld has sought to integrate travel into its separate pavilions dedicated to each segment of tourism, the niche focus is magnified further by the presence of concurrent exhibitions and seminars for other industry verticals. Such gargantuan proportions can be intimidating to visitors. Taking cognition of the event, TravelWorld 2005 has put together Comprehensive Integrated Theme Pavilions, which is in sync with and celebrates the segmentation of the Indian tourism landscape. It is also recognition of the time crunch that most business visitors are pressed by.

As aforementioned, there's a US$ 300 billion international pie for the taking and so far India has not helped itself to it. Recognising this, TravelWorld has dedicated an entire pavilion. A number of the state and international tourism boards will feature tailor-made products both at their stalls and through interactive presentation sessions and buyer/seller meets on a one-to-one basis, wherein, the target audience would be Corporate Travel Managers, MICE Specialists, Business Travellers, Tour Operators and Travel Agents, who specialise in MICE planning. A Bollywood Destination Guide would be launched simultaneously at TravelWorld that would facilitate attending Bollywood film producers, directors, serial directors, advertising filmmakers, and potential investors. The Medical Tourism Pavilion is testament to the sheer number of international visitors coming in for medical treatment to states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and even Kerala. The pavilion will feature hotels, hospitals, resorts and spas, rejuvenation and therapy centres, tourism boards, travel agents, tour operators and organisations that specialise in the concept. And the target audience will be international and domestic travel service providers specialising in medical tourism packages, medical tourists, medical professionals, health organisations and the entire range of accommodation providers.

Beyond Conventions

Conventions have been largely perceived as significant value add to a trade show that extends its profile beyond the set piece of a buyer seller platform. There is a danger of a convention petering out into futile lip service if it is considered an also ran. For TravelWorld, though, the concurrent business sessions are the centerpiece with utmost detail awarded to the agenda for discussion and the scope and sagacity of the speakers and panels. The CEO's Conclave will witness the coming together of a pantheon of industry captains that shall discuss and debate issues who currently confront the industry and find a way forward. Participants will witness high profile keynote speakers of international repute, who will elucidate insights that will form the crux of a white paper on the future of the tourism industry. TravelWorld will also showcase back to back business sessions on relevant topics within the industry. These sessions will be moderated panel discussions at each forum, featuring stalwarts from the industry as well as speakers of national and inter-national repute.

TravelWorld Highlights

• Largest B2B Travel&Tourism Event
• Thought Leaders Confluence- Best Practices
• Top Exhibitors [International & Domestic]
• Trade Visitors - 10,000 Plus
• Hosted Buyers [International & Domestic]
• CEO's Conclave
• The Aviation Summit 2005
• Concept Pavilions
• Conferences & Seminars

CEO's Conclave

• Brings together the leading decision makers in the travel and hospitality industry
• An international forum of business heads
• Discussions and debates on burning issues within the industry to chart a way forward
• High profile keynote speakers of international repute
• The insights will form the crux of a white paper on the future of the tourism industry

The Aviation Summit 2005

• The event is in strategic partnership with the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).
• Comprehensive participation from all leading international and domestic carriers in the Indian aviation scenario.
• High-powered CEOs and Managing Directors will chair the panel on various seminars in the day-long event.
• Discussions and debates on pertinent issues of the aviation and travel industry

International Pavilion

• Comprehensive participation from all leading International Tourism Boards in India.
• Strategic positioning of respective tourism products, themes and USPs.
• An ambience conducive to one-on-one meetings with heads of tourism boards to discuss concepts and freeze deals.
• An overall up-to-date perspective on the trends, focus and performance of the market leaders through presentations and dissemination of relevant information.

Domestic Pavilion

• Participation across the board from all leading state tourism boards.
• Theme-driven presentations along with information dissemination for the different resources of every given state.
• Interactions with state tourism authorities who are decision makers, abreast with all state policies and incentives relevant to tourism infrastructure.
• An understanding of the brimming potential of the domestic industry by the professional display of respective state tourism boards.

Hosted Buyer Programme

• Specific agenda to further tourism business with India.
• Targeting new and emerging markets.
• Consolidation and representation from all major tourism markets for India.
• A sizable representation from markets such as Europe, Middle East and Far East.