Great Indian Travel Bazaar gets thumbs up from buyers and exhibitors
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The Great Indian Travel Bazaar in Jaipur this year attracted a record 230 foreign buyers from 53 countries.This was significantly higher than the 160 buyers from 35 countries recorded when the event was launched in 2008.There were 7,000 B2B structured meetings this year, against 2,000 four years ago. Encouraged by the success of this, the hosting programme may be extended to domestic buyers and the event may be extended by a day for the next instalment.Bhim Singh, Managing Director of Jaipur-based Rajasthan Tours, said that the event was highly successful as the quality of the selected buyers was high and logistics had been taken care of.Rohit Kohli, Joint Managing Director of Creative Travel, said that close scrutiny of the hosted buyers had ensured a fruitful mart. The new system ensured that buyers did not play truant and actually met the sellers as scheduled.Theresa Hieu Nguyen, Managing Director of Anthai from Vietnam, said that the GITB had introduced new products like the Buddhist attractions for her Vietnam clients heading to India. Gujarat government representatives, Vipul Mittra and Sanjay Kaul, told buyers of the many festivals and other attractions of the State, which had successfully involved Bollywood superstar Amtitabh Bachhan in its campaign. The India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) used the opportunity to reveal the upgraded products in Jaipur, Delhi and Mysore, where the hotels were doing well.Vijay Dutt, General Manager of The Lalitha Mahal Palace, Mysore, said that they received many queries from the Southeast Asia, Europe and the US for the leisure and MICE business.ITDC Senior Manager Inderjeet said that the response at Jaipur for all the units and transport division – Ashok Travels and Tours – was good. Sales and Marketing Manager at Vythiri Resort in Kerala, Mathew Vengalathi, said that they had received good enquires from Singapore, China, Middle East and the domestic market. Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotels promoted its Oman, Sri Lanka and Maldives properties. Suresh Dissanayake, Head of Sales and Marketing- India, used the GITB to reveal the chain’s expansion plansRaj Bajaj, of Adventure Travel and Perfect Travels, was a first-time at GITB and was pleased with the response, with some instant bookings from Sri Lanka and many queries for special and general tours, like cycling, accessible travel and home stay programmes. He immediately decided to take part next year as well.
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