Seen on ehotelier.com, April 16, 2007
ITB Asia will have its first run at Suntec Singapore from the 22nd till the 24th of October 2008 as was announced by Raimund Hosch, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, the show organizer of ITB Berlin. The B2B trade show and convention will be designed to become the primary event for the Asia Pacific travel industry, much like its parent event, the ITB Berlin itself.
It will be targetted at creating new and
cost-effective networking and business opportunities for the outbound
buyers from the Asia - Pacific, the small & medium enterprises as
well as the vast numbers of suppliers of products and services to the
industry at large.
"The show is intended to ride the wave of
the generational transition taking place across the Asia - Pacific,
clearly the most important travel market of this century," said Mr
Hosch. Many of the doing-business structures upon which the industry
was founded in the 1960s and 1970s are giving way to new ways.
Harald
Wolf, Berlin's Senator for Economics, Technology and Women's Issues,
said: "Thus people all over the world will get to know the brand which
the ITB Berlin represents, and this will increase the opportunities for
Messe Berlin's customers who operate on the international stage, an
aspect which not least will benefit Berlin as a business venue. Even
large-scale trade shows such as the ITB Berlin cannot cater for the
entire world market. By committing itself in this way Berlin is
responding to increasing economic globalisation."
Meeting
the needs of the buyers and sellers will remain the primary focus of
attention, especially buyers from the Asian travel source markets
looking for new products to sell across Asia and also worldwide. This
includes not just buyers of leisure products but also meetings,
business travel and conventions.
At the same time, ITB Asia
will reach out to the small and medium size enterprises from the Asian
travel industry who could not afford to participate in global shows and
did not find the regional shows useful to make the right contacts.
"This is of utmost importance for emerging market players - e.g. small
hotels, online travel agents, incoming agencies -- that very often have
the most attractive and innovative products but so far lacked the
opportunity to present themselves to the right buyers for their
products," said Mr Hosch.
Another feature that will differentiate ITB Asia will be the convention to be organised alongside.
Patterned along the lines of the highly successful event that is
organised alongside the ITB Berlin, the Asian event will be designed to
provide a high level of intellectual value for the new generation of
young Asian travel entrepreneurs. The needs and concerns of this new
generation will be targeted - particularly those from the incoming,
online travel, hospitality and aviation sectors.
Besides ITB
Asia will not only act as a "horizontal" market place for travel
products but also as a "vertical" one for suppliers of the travel
industry. Hence, it will feature the full range of travel products,
services and goods from the supply side of the industry especially in
the hospitality and technology sectors.
Said Mr Hosch,
"Naturally, we will use the full power of our global databases to
market this show and help participants find useful contacts. The fact
that there will no fixed appointments will leave all participants free
to find their own opportunities, of which there will be plenty."
The show is being organised upon the initiative of the Singapore
government which approached Messe Berlin, organisers of the ITB Berlin,
as part of a package deal to organise Asian versions of the entire
suite of trade events held at the Messe Berlin.
Mr Hosch
said Messe Berlin was happy to accept the initiative but has made clear
that it would like to position it as an "Asian" show and work with all
sectors of the industry region-wide, including national tourism
organisations, associations, airlines, hotel groups, tour operators, to
ensure maximum attendance and the best possible exposure.
"We will do everything possible to ensure that the costs are kept to a
basic minimum. When the industry finds the show useful, both will grow
together," said Hosch.