ITB Asia gathers momentum

As Asia Pacific rises in importance as a travel market, the organisers of ITB Asia, Messe Berlin, have underlined the need for the fast growing travel trade show to maintain its momentum.

According to industry research firm PhocusWright, Asia Pacific is now the world’s largest travel market, expected to reach US$351.9 billion this year.

“Now that Asia Pacific has taken the crown as the world’s largest travel market, it becomes even more critical for us to maintain our position as an effective platform to network and gain insights about the region’s travel market,” chief executive Christian G√∂ke said.

This year’s show, which kicked off yesterday in Singapore, features 825 exhibitors from 73 countries with exhibitors from Europe taking up 20% more floor space and the largest ever delegation from the US, growing their floor space by 90%.

“The most telling key performance indicator is the number of international non-Asian exhibitors,” G√∂ke said. “That gives an indication of where the show is heading”.

An increase of almost 60% more first time visitors representing emerging markets has also been seen this year.

ITB Asia falls under a week long umbrella event called TravelRave which also features events such as Web in Travel and the GBTA Business Forum among others.  There are eight affiliated events in total.

The program has been carefully curated to offer synergies across markets, content and networks, according to Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Lionel Yeo.

“Our ambition is very simple – we want to position TravelRave as the premier event for the industry in Asia”.

Messe Berlin has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with STB to “intensify” links between the two bodies to bring more events to Singapore.