EventGupshup Events & Activation Buzz | India
With the theme Summer Holidays, the India International Travel Mart 2017 took place from March 3 to 5 at Milan Mela Trade Centre, Kolkata. The event was inaugurated by AB Bardhan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Govt. of West Bengal. With this year’s edition of ‘IITM’ in Kolkata, Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., completed 18 years of creating business opportunities for the Hospitality, Travel and Tourism industry from India and abroad.
India International Travel Mart is at present being organized in key source markets of Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi and now Kolkata. Established in 1998, this is the first time the exhibition is taking place in Kolkata, and witnessed over 125 participants from fifteen Indian states and five countries.
Organized in association with West Bengal Tourism, the event also had 15 state tourism departments participating, with Gujarat Tourism as the Partner State at the event. Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were the Feature States.
The event also offered special Packages to over 100 destinations, with more than 100 hotels and resorts participating from all over India. Diverse Tourism segments on display included Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, etc. Oyo Rooms was the Platinum Hospitality Partner.
The Exhibitor Profile Included National Tourism Organizations & State Tourism Promotion Boards, Destination Management Organizations, Airlines, Charters, Railways, Passenger Transporters, and Car Rentals, Shipping, Cruise liners, Travel Agents and Tour Operators, Holiday Packages & Holiday financiers, Technology Providers, Hotel Reservation Networks, Hotels & Resorts, Wild – life Resorts, Health Spas and Ayurvedic Center’s, Time – Share Resorts, Eco – Clubs and Adventure Sports, Education Institutions in the field of Hospitality and tourism studies.
Vistoris included professionals from the Travel – trade Industry, business travellers and key corporate decision makers, and discerning holiday makers.
Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia remarked, “With the present ongoing recession International Arrivals in India has dropped and ‘India International Travel Mart’ provided the right impetus to the Indian domestic tourism industry. The participants from the states and Union Territories as diverse as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands, Bihar & Jharkhand etc and many more destinations will be seen marketing their products”.
Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere Travel Media added, “India in spite of the present business environment is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B & B2C format like and will have over 15,000 visitors over three days.”
Tourism Studies and Trends indicate that the year 2017 – 18 will see more than 20 million tourists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low cost international airfares, holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International Travel is no longer a luxury.
