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TTF Hyderabad ends with 15% increase in footfall Flipbook PDF
TTF Hyderabad ends with 15% increase in footfall Around the world in 3 days at TTF Hyderabad The 105th edition of India’
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TTF Hyderabad ends with 15% increase in footfall Around the world in 3 days at TTF Hyderabad
The 105th edition of India’s biggest travel trade show TTF (Travel & Tourism Fair) recorded 15% increase in footfall at the HITEX Exhibition Centre (Hall 1), Hyderabad bringing together more than 200 participants from all over the country as well as from 9 countries. Speaking at the opening press conference, Chandana Khan, IAS, Special Chief Secretary to Government, (Tourism, Cultural Affairs & Archaeology), Government of Andhra Pradesh welcomed all the participants, saying, ”It gives me a lot of satisfaction to see TTF going from strength to strength with both quantitative as well as qualitative value additions. The need to bring everyone involv involved in the travel el trade together like this can cannot be underestimated. “The travel and tourism fraternity is facing many challenges as well as getting new opportunities,” she continued. “There is no substitute, no alternative to B2B talks to bring buyers and sellers together. While promoting destinations, we have to explore new locations and restore heritage places at the same time.” Sri Lanka joined TTF Hyderabad as a Partner Country with a huge pavilion displaying the ‘Get Sri Lankaned’ campaign. Ten private operators from Sri Lanka came me all the way from Colombo, to promote at TTF Hyderabad. Sri Lanka had 186,525 Indian tourists in 2012; more than any other country. To strengthen its marketing efforts in India, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is to open 3 offices in the country in 2013 – in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. During the peak hours of the fair, a tour operator from Sri Lanka in the pavilion, Prabath Fernando, Manager – Sales & Marketing, Sunway Holidays, said, “Enquiries are coming in for for B2B as well as B2C requirements. Many people are asking for Hindu temple packages and the Ramayana sites other than popular
sites like Colombo and Kandy. We are also promoting gaming resorts in Sri Lanka which will attract many Indians. People are taking a lot of interest to know that a destination so close can give them the ultimate gaming experience. Things would be even better if flight connectivity improves.” Vijay Somasundaram, Manager, Royal Holidays, Sri Lanka said, “We are very happy to be a partner in TTF. We have met many potential tour operators and clients who wish to promote Sri Lanka and travel to Sri Lanka for holiday and MICE activities. We are hoping for good business from here.” Aiming to welcome 8 lakh Indian tourists in 2014 with promotions focused on adventure tourism, beach activities and island tourism, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysian Airlines announced the launch of Malaysia Mega Sale at TTF Hyderabad, valid for bookings via selected agents and travel operators by October 30. In 2014, Malaysia will celebrate its fourth VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR (VMY) with the theme ‘Celebrating Malaysia Truly Asia’. Malaysia Airlines runs 7 weekly flights from Hyderabad. “At TTF, we find it very interesting, the setup of the booth is very good, the [number of] trade people we received was very encouraging,” Sarala V Pathar, Deputy Director, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, said. “A lot of people want to have contacts of Malaysian agents; they want to do business dealings with them. This is really good.” The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale, from June 15 to August 15, is also currently under way in the country, offering discounts of up to 80% at stores and leisure outlets across the country. This, as well as new regional packages were being promoted at TTF Hyderabad. With Malaysia and Thailand, other international participants like Egypt, Macau, Oman, U.S. and U.A.E., all scouting for the right kind of opportunity to tap the thriving India outbound market, participated as Feature Countries at TTF Hyderabad. “It gives me immense pleasure and joy to promote the new Egypt postrevolution,” said Dr Adel El Masry, Director of Egyptian Tourism Office in India. “For Egypt, Asia is one of the most prime tourism market and we are always looking for opportunities to attract tourists, corporate and travel agents from across the world to the jewels of Egypt. TTF will provide a balanced mix of travel trade and other visitors. It is the best platform for marketing to the Indian travel trade, MICE segment and tourists.” Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, said, “India is Oman’s largest inbound market…In the last three years since Oman tourism opened its office in India, Oman has seen a steady influx of Indian
travellers visiting for tourism purposes. We want to increase the momentum and are focusing on niche segments and venturing into Tier II cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune this year.” “Participating in travel fairs is our attempt to reach out to the maximum number of consumers and travel trade partners in south India to enhance Oman’s visibility as well as to update them about Oman… We are also excited that the Indian audiences will witness this beautiful country on the big screen through the Bollywood film ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara’ which was partially shot in Oman and will release on August 15.” Buoyed by the response from the travel trade and the general visitors, SanJeet, India Representative, Macau Government Tourist Office said, “We are delighted to be here for the first time and we will exploit this opportunity and network with our travel friends in the industry in the city. We recognize Hyderabad as a market with a huge number of potential visitors to Macau and we will work closely along with our trade partners and rev up our marketing promotional activities to tap the Hyderabad tourist market.” Sage Moon and Courtney Kline, Consular Officers from the Consulate General of the United States, Hyderabad gave a presentation to an enthusiastic audience on the tourist visa procedures and answered many queries from the audience. Sathya Prabha from the U.S. Commercial Service, Hyderabad was present in the booth to attend to visitors and their questions. Gurdit Singh, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad said, “The U.S. Consulate General, Hyderabad encourages eligible travellers to apply for visas to the United States for business or tourism. We welcome the millions of foreign visitors who come to the U.S. each year. They add greatly to our nation’s cultural, educational, and economic life. We are thankful to TTF for providing a forum where we could share with travel and tour operators up-to-date procedures on how to apply for U.S. tourist and business visas.” The domestic tourism sector, backbone of the country’s tourism industry, was strongly represented at TTF Hyderabad, with participation from 17 States. After a very successful destination campaign in Kolkata during 104th TTF, Andhra Pradesh’s played the role of Host State, welcoming delegates from all over the world. The huge pavilion of Andhra Pradesh Tourism with a miniature of Warangal Gate, the most iconic symbol of Kakatiya dynasty welcomed visitors at the entry. Showcasing samples of their own rich culture and with large delegations, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha were the Partner States. Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Punjab were displaying their latest tourism campaigns, promoting destinations and tourism products as Feature States this year. Besides the above, TTF Hyderabad also had participation from Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. India Tourism participated in TTF Hyderabad, as it has been doing for the last decade, promoting nationwide destinations under one roof. The host state Andhra Pradesh is a strong source market of outbound and domestic tourists. It is also a leading destination of domestic tourists. TTF also had participation from a large number of hotels, resorts, travel agents, tour operators, on-line travel agents, cruise-liners, railways and travel portals. Some of the prominent exhibitors included Desert Vacations, The Pride Hotels, Rose Valley Hotels, Kenilworth Hotels & Resorts, Country Vacations, Travel Designer India, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, Briar Tea Bungalows, Neptune Holidays, travel.co.in, makemykerala.com, holidaybazaar.co, IRCTC etc. On the sidelines of TTF Hyderabad, Gujarat Tourism conducted a road show in one of the city’s five-star hotels where Kamlesh Bhai Patel, Chairman, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat, and Vipul Mittra, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Gujarat gave an overview of Gujarat Tourism’s recent success with the Khushboo Gujarat Ki campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan. Tour operators, travel agents and hoteliers were present in numbers at the meet to witness Gujarat Tourism showcasing its forthcoming leading festivals, including Monsoon Festival at Saputara, Tarnetar Fair, Navratri Festival, the Rann Utsav and the International Kite Festival. After the road show, while visiting TTF, Kamlesh Bhai Patel said, “TTF is doing very well in all parts of the country. Here in Hyderabad also, I am very pleased to see the quality of participants. TTF keeps its unique image in the tourism sector and we value it a lot. Like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal, we want more tourists from Andhra Pradesh. Today’s travel trade and media meet was very good with lots of interactions. If Andhra Pradesh has Tirupati, Gujarat has Dwarka, so we must do something to boost regional as well as religious tourism. Gujaratis visit Andhra Pradesh in huge numbers. We are in contact with the Andhra Pradesh government for a MoU for tourism-related cooperation and development.” On the last day, a special awards ceremony honoured the exhibitors across several categories. The Group Participation Award went to Himachal Pradesh Tourism, while the Most Promising New Destination Award went to the Oman Tourist Office, India and the Egyptian Tourism Office, which was promoting major MICE, leisure and corporate travel destinations like Sharm el Sheikh, Alexandria, Cairo and Aswan.
The Best Value Leisure Product Award went to Tourism Malaysia for its Malaysia Mega Sale package, 4 nights / 5 days stay in Malaysia with 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur and 2 nights either in Langkawi, Penang or Johor Bahru at Rs 31,999; and to the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) for various rail tour packages from Hyderabad. Concept Hospitality for its hospitality with responsibility and Punnamada Resorts, for Monsoon Packages were joint winners of the Most Exclusive Leisure Product Award. Meanwhile, the Most Innovative Product Award went to Kerala State Tourism Federation Ltd. G Muralidhar of makemykerala.com said, “We received a good number of enquiries, especially from the Maharashtra pavilion. It is not only for business but also visibility and promotion that we come to participate in TTF.” Ravi Varma, Sales Manager, Vythiri Village in Kerala said, “Kerala is known for Ayurveda Tourism. We are promoting Ayurveda treatment packages in our exotic resort and we have established some good contacts during the B2B hours. The general public is also coming in numbers and asking for information on packages. We hope we will get good bookings in the future.” Four exhibitors picked up the Best Print Promotional Material Award: India Tourism, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Limited, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board and Ramoji Film City. The sprawling 1,666-acre Ramoji Film City, which has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest film studio complex, was the Hospitality Partner of TTF Hyderabad. Ramoji Film City hosted a gala networking dinner for all TTF delegates with much fanfare. Delegates were given a guided tour of the RFC complex that ended with a colorful cultural performance followed by dinner. “I am so glad that all the delegates of TTF Hyderabad could come to Ramoji Film City. Besides film productions, we are venturing into becoming one of the mustvisit destinations of Asia. I am really very happy that such good B2B colleagues have come. If we could work together, it would be the pleasure of Ramoji Film City. We established good contacts; we are talking with some airlines and met Malaysian agents who showed interest in cooperation. MICE business is very good for us, and TTF is the ideal platform to project Ramoji Film City to a greater target audience. We wish to participate in all TTFs,” said Rajeev Jalnapurkar, Vice President, Ramoji Film City. After giving away the awards, Chief Guest Shoeb Samad, Regional Director (South), India Tourism said, “My colleagues in the India Tourism pavilion said it
was a wonderful experience. Every year we have been participating in TTF, it is becoming more interesting. With more participants, domestic as well as international, footfalls are increasing too. Shifting focus from B2C to B2B is good, because Hyderabad so far has not been a tourism-oriented destination, but with trade fairs like this and with more participation, the level of interest among the public is growing day by day. Foreign tourist arrivals have increased compared to other places due to better facilities, better locations and modern amenities. Though Kerala is the most favoured destination in South India, Hyderabad is becoming popular very fast due to its good infrastructure. Also Hyderabad is able to cater to every kind of tourist who comes to India. The success of TTF in Hyderabad proves that.” Private tour operators were also happy with the response they received. Jyotsna Sharma, Deputy Manager, Outbound FIT Leisure Tours, Cox & Kings, which participated as part of the Tourism Malaysia delegation, said, “Malaysia is well known to Indians. Many people are coming to our stall and asking for brochures and packages. This is good networking.” Kumar Raj Babbar, Manager – Leisure Travel (Outbound), Thomas Cook said, “The Tourism Malaysia pavilion has been very busy since day one. Trade visitors came in good numbers and now the crowd is increasing. We are trying our best to answer all queries. We have made some good contacts and hope they will mature positively.” Shaikh Altaf, Manager – Sales & Marketing, Desert Vacations, exclusively promoting Dubai, was extremely pleased. “TTF Hyderabad was excellent,” he said. “Our B2B meetings were very good: there were many travel agents who promised we will have bulk bookings. Dubai is a very hot destination and people now want to visit Dubai as a tourism place other than its unique shopping experience. We are giving a one-stop solution, which is getting very good response. For Indian tourists, we are promoting Diwali Dhamaka Dubai Package and have both B2B and B2C packages on offer.” Sourav Sadhukhan of Rose Valley Hotels said, “We are promoting our new properties. Here in Hyderabad, we have received a lot of enquiries on our new property at Port Blair. Due to Hyderabad’s easy connectivity with Andaman via Vizag, people are taking more interest in that hotel. We participate in most of the TTFs now: this is the best place to reunite with colleagues in the industry.” Nitin Lall of Mountain Trails, another regular exhibitor at TTF, was very proud to announce that “very few people promote Ladakh, and we do give a very different travelling experience for different kinds of tourists. For those who love adventure, those who want to do high-quality photography etc, we have the tailor-made
solutions for all. Our business interactions were very good and we are very hopeful about getting the response as well.” Vineet from Yorker Travel / Big Tree said, “I am confident to close today 2/3 group departures from Hyderabad. We promote high quality cruise vacations for many destinations to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and many Southeast Asian countries. There were enquiries the whole day. We are now looking forward to TTF Ahmedabad for Gujarati tourists who love to travel and do not compromise quality for cost.” Vaishali Shah of online travel agency HolidayBazaar.co, said, “We are getting a lot of B2B as well as B2C queries. Trade visitors as well as general visitors are coming in to visit our stall and asking for packages for Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.” “Being a B2B online portal, we wanted to be seen and network with visitors. There were enquiries from travel trade and we are happy to answer them. We have established a few contacts also and hope it will bring business,” said Kavita Hemnath, Business Development Manager, Rezlive.com. Sailesh Bhadoria, Sales Manager of etravel.co.in said, “The fair is very good. We are a B2B online portal and we came here to network with travel agents and tour operators. Even on B2C days, it is very important to showcase the product and be more visible. We would want more international travel agents to participate and interact.”