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Over 315 exhibitors from 9 Countries and 27 Indian States & Union Territories
Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) Kolkata concluded successfully with over 315 participants from 9 Countries and 27 Indian States & Union Territories over the three day show at Netaji Indoor Stadium and the adjacent Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
TTF is India’s oldest and largest travel trade show, which is now organised in 9 cities annually.
One of the biggest travel industry platforms in the country, TTF Kolkata was inaugurated by Chief Guest Goutam Deb, Tourism Minister of West Bengal, in the presence of A R Bardhan, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal; Jyotirmay Barman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Preecha Kaensa, Consul General of Thailand in Kolkata; N Srivastava, MD and Commissioner, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd; Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd; Dr. Christina Z Chongthu, MD, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation Ltd; Ujjwala Dali, Officiating Director- Tourism Marketing & Promotion, Nepal Tourism Board; and Sushma Chauhan, Director- Jammu, J&K Tourism.
While inaugurating the event, Goutam Deb, Tourism Minister, West Bengal, said, “I express my humble thanks to TTF for organising this beautiful edition of TTF in Kolkata. It is indeed a pleasure to see that as many as 315 participants have exhibited in a big way at TTF. The government of West Bengal has undertaken several measures to showcase the potential of the tourism sector.”
First half of the show was reserved for the travel trade, after which it was open to public. The three day travel trade show had brought together state tourism boards, national tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators, travel agents, online travel companies, railways, cruises and other travel marketers under one roof.
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir were the Partner States for the event whereas Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were the Feature States.
Bangladesh and Nepal participated in a big way as the Partner Countries. Thailand was present as the Feature Country. TTF Kolkata was supported by India Tourism.
Important exhibitors included Bodoland Tourism, Travstarz, Nicco Parks & Resorts, Vivada Corporations, IRCTC and many more.
Keeping up with the current trends and challenges, this year StartupKnockDown+ was organised by TravHQ in association with TTF to highlight the emerging travel technologies across various cities in India. The session saw a battle between the budding travel startups of which Airlines Technology Pvt Ltd and Izifiso were declared as winners.
Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd (the organiser of TTF), commented, “This edition of TTF Kolkata has received an overwhelming response as the visitor numbers have doubled compared to last year. One of the major highlights was the session on StartupKnockDown+ that acted as a very important platform for the startup ecosystem to come together.”
Fairfest Media, organiser of the TTF & OTM shows, has strengthened their unparalleled lead as India’s No. 1 travel trade show organiser, with about half the market share. It organises TTF branded shows every year in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune (July-September) followed by Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi (January-February), in addition to the grand finale OTM Mumbai in February.
TTF Kolkata also had participation from Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Manipur, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
Among other countries Bhutan, Maldives, Singapore, Taiwan and UAE were also represented.
To enhance and showcase their respective offerings, aside from attractive and elegant stalls, participating states and countries at TTF Kolkata presented daily cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.
Nepal, Bangladesh, Telangana and Manipur Tourism organised travel trade road shows on the side-lines of TTF Kolkata to woo tourists from the Eastern region.
Nepal Tourism Board conveyed the message that tourism is reviving and Nepal is back to business. “Since 2004, Nepal has been participating in all the editions of TTF. We are really glad that Fairfest has given us the opportunity to be the Partner Country at TTF Kolkata,” said Dali.
During the road show, Bangladesh Tourism launched ‘Cholo Bangladesh’ campaign and invited the visitors to take part in the Festival in large numbers.
Telangana Tourism made its debut this year at TTF Kolkata. Expressing her happiness on representing the youngest state of India, Dr Christina Chongthu said, “We are participating for the first time in TTF Kolkata and I would like to invite you all to the forthcoming edition of TTF Hyderabad.”
Talking about the prospect of introducing TTF in Goa, Desai said, “We are trying to make TTF happen in Goa as it will be a good opportunity for Goans to showcase their tourism products. TTF Goa will add a feather to both TTF and Goa’s cap.”
The newly introduced Tea@TTF had special networking sessions by top travel trade associations- IATO, OTOAI, ADTOI and SKAL during the three days of the event.
TTF will now move to Hyderabad (July 15-17, 2016) which will be followed by TTF West Series covering Ahmedabad (September 2-4), Surat (September 9-11), Mumbai (September 16-18) and Pune (September 23-25), together comprising the biggest tourism market in India.
TTF Kolkata was supported by Incredible India, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI).
Fairfest Media Limited, organiser of TTF & OTM, is a member of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Indian Exhibition Industry Association (IEIA) and International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE).
Travel News Digest is the official trade publication of TTF. Media partners included Outlook Traveller, India Outbound, India & You, Express Travel World, Wonderlust, Travel Trade Journal, Travel and Tour World, Travel Span, Mice Mirror and Exhibition Showcase.
For more, please visit: www.ttfotm.com
 Kolkata concluded successfully with over 315 participants from 9 Countries and 27 Indian States & Union Territories over the three day show at… "Pin It")
Source: travelnewsdigest.in