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The Western India Region, comprising the most potential travel markets in the country, is gearing up for hectic marketing activity with the Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) Series coming up at Ahmedabad (2-4 Sep), Surat (9-11 Sep), Mumbai (16-18 Sep) and Pune (23-25 Sep).
TTF Ahmedabad has grown phenomenally over last year. It has the distinction now of being the largest in the annual circuit of TTF spanning 9 cities.
TTF Surat and Pune move to the city centers this year, with a promise of huge footfalls. TTF Surat has moved back to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium, bang in the heart of the city. TTF Pune is also relocated to the brand new Messe Global Pune at Season’s Mall, centrally located in the upmarket Koregaon Park and Magarpatta area.
Located in the country’s biggest travel markets, TTF Ahmedabad and Mumbai are well on their way to being 25% bigger than last year.
To enhance and showcase their respective offerings, aside from attractive and elegant stalls, participating states and countries at TTF will present daily cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.
Keeping up with the current trends and challenges, Travel StartupKnockDown+ will be organised by TravHQ in association with TTF at Pune to highlight the emerging travel technologies across various cities in India.
With a wide array of tourism offerings country representations from Macao, Thailand, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal and more have set the bar high at various TTFs this year.
Among the state tourism boards who have in-principally committed big participation in various TTF editions are Uttarakhand, Goa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim, Karnataka, Tripura, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd, commented, “Western India in general and Gujarat and Maharashtra in particular are the most important travel markets of India. In addition to the unique Diwali vacation travel, the region has a lucrative business travel and MICE market. That is the reason we have a 4-events series in the region, spread over weekends over a month, covering top cities. TTF Ahmedabad surpassed our expectation by growing 25% over last year. It is followed by Surat, Mumbai and Pune, back-to-back, offering the travel industry the most comprehensive marketing opportunity.”
Fairfest Media Ltd, organiser of the TTF and OTM branded travel shows have strengthened their unparalleled lead as India’s No. 1 travel trade show organiser, with about half the market share. It organises every year TTF branded travel marts in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, in addition to the grand finale OTM Mumbai- the largest travel trade show of India.
GOUTAM DEB
Tourism Minister, Government of West Bengal
I had the pleasure to inaugurate TTF for the first time in Kolkata in July this year and I was impressed with the size of the show and the large number of national and international stakeholders attending TTF, befitting its track record as India’s oldest and largest travel mart network. West Bengal Tourism is happy to be associated closely not only with TTF Kolkata as the Host State, but also through our participation at the other TTF locations like the ones coming up in Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune. West Bengal Tourism hopes to benefit in a big way from this platform for reaching out to the travel industry and tourists.
VALSA NAIR SINGH
Principal Secretary- Tourism & Culture, Government of Maharashtra
The objective of participation at TTF is to promote Maharashtra as the world-class tourist destination, and offer opportunity to travel and tour operators to interact with foreign buyers, exhibitors, policy makers, investors. TTF is a perfect platform for us to showcase our best aspects with more than 2,500 exhibitors from 80 countries and 36 Indian States/UTs. Participation at TTF is our opportunity to showcase the tourism inventories, vibrant culture, unique destinations and investment opportunities in Maharashtra. From exotic beaches to historic forts, scuba diving to fort trekking, heli tourism to Deccan Odyssey, delicious cuisine to culture and heritage monuments there is a lot to explore in Maharashtra.
SHAILESH BAGAULI
Secretary, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board
TTF is playing a very important role for the State Tourism Boards and other private stakeholders to meet at one place, promote their products and get business. Uttarakhand is known as the Dev Bhumi (Land of Gods) where lots of people come for Pilgrimage Tourism. Apart from pilgrimage, the state tourism board is focusing on promotion of Adventure Tourism, Yoga, Leisure Tourism and Homestays. Uttarakhand Tourism is organising Tehri Adevnture Festival in the second week of October in which various activities like paragliding, hot air ballooning, water sports will be promoted. Earlier this year, UTDB also conducted first paragliding event at Pithoragarh where paragliders participated in large numbers.
N SRIVASTAVA
Managing Director and Commissioner, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd
The vibrant state of Gujarat is richly endowed with tourism assets. Its geographical diversity, rich culture, glorious past and solid infrastructural backbone make it the perfect tourist destination. The Tourism Department, Government of Gujarat is glad to partner with TTF and we are certain that this platform will aid us in showcasing our sincere efforts to transform Gujarat into a world class tourism hub and further boost our tourist inflow. Our hard work has also been recognised by the Government of India by honouring the state of Gujarat with the National Tourism Awards for the past three years.
NIKHIL DESAI
Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation
Goa Tourism is known for being a land of diverse cultures. Our focus at the TTF West Series is to campaign aggressively on festival tourism and promote it widely. We have festivals and events all throughout the year which includes Grape Escapade- the Wine Festival, Carnaval, Shigmo, Food and Cultural Festival, Monsoon Festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Tripurari Festival, International Film Festival India, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and many more. Festivals and events are a big draw for tourists as they showcase Goa’s traditions and culture which are unique to the State.
HARI RANJAN RAO
Commissioner Tourism & MD, MP State Tourism Development Corporation
Madhya Pradesh Tourism engages in various activities to promote its products and destinations. We will be participating in travel marts like the TTF and others organised across the country with a much larger space and a common theme aligning with our TV campaign to give a better recall to our brand. This year, the Jal Mahotsav (Water Festival) will be organised for a month at Hanuwantiya from December 15, 2016 to January 15, 2017 and our special impetus will be to bring in the international tourists. Though Kanha National Park and Pachmarhi a lovely hill resort makes the most of business in the western part of the country; this year we would like to focus on the heritage corridor which is rich and diverse in its nature.
STEVEN DIXON
Regional Manager– South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand
Tourism from India to New Zealand is increasing and we are confident to keep this momentum for our new fiscal year as well. We announced Bollywood actor, Sidharth Malhotra as the ambassador of Tourism New Zealand for India as he visited New Zealand to experience the country first-hand. TTF helps us network and educate travel agents on creating itineraries to promote New Zealand through our participation. We will be showcasing the benefits of travelling to New Zealand in spring and autumn, as well as highlighting both well-known and ‘off the beaten track’ regions in New Zealand.
SORAYA HOMCHUEN
Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand- Mumbai
At the TTF West Series, we will promote our overall destination objectives in India through the travel service providers we meet at the event. These goals include expanding our share of the women traveller’s segment and increasing our appeal to the family segment. Additionally, we will focus on the wedding segment as well since Ahmedabad and other cities in the Western India also have a high potential for destination weddings. Thailand has hired a brand ambassador to help target the bachelorette segment and the exponentially growing women’s travel segment.
ARZAN KHAMBATTA
Head of India Representative Office, Macao Government Tourist Office
We at Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO) are working hard in all aspects to adopt new promotional theme this year to promote Macao to Indians, striving to attract visitors and at the same time, enhance the city’s attractiveness as a tourist destination. The promotional theme of Macao is ‘Experience Macao your own Style’. Our focus is on making the Indian traveller well versed in all the family oriented activities that Macao has to offer along with some amazing festivals that the city will celebrate from September onwards. Macao has seen a 4.2% growth since last year until June 2016. We are positive these numbers will grow by the end of this year.
Source: travelnewsdigest.in
 Series coming up at Ahmedabad (2-4 Sep), Surat (9-11 Sep), Mumbai (16-18 Sep)… "Pin It")