The first edition of ITB India and South Asia, an all-virtual event, is opening today, and over the next three days, it will present a virtual business-to-business travel and tourism trade show platform for India and South Asia through to closing ceremony 9 April.
Due to ongoing travel restrictions, the organisers of ITB India have decided to hold the inaugural ITB India 2021 as an entirely virtual event. The new event format provides exhibitors and attendees with both maximum safety and planning certainty. The virtual show welcomes over 400 Indian and Southeast Asian buyers from MICE, Corporate, Leisure and Travel Technologies sectors.
Its organisers, Messe Berlin Singapore, position the event as more than a travel trade show claiming it will be an important platform to meet the most influential organisations in the international, Indian and South Asian travel and tourism industry to build strong partnerships and strengthen existing bonds.
India is the second-largest outbound market in Asia and the eighth largest travel market in the world. The value of the Indian outbound travel market in 2024 is projected to be around USD 42 billion.
ITB India includes specific topics pertaining to MICE, corporate and leisure travellers in India, with topics including Travel Technology, the future of MICE, Global Consumer Trends, Social Media & Influencer Marketing, and Destination Marketing.
The show will work to access the markets that go well beyond the established metropolitan cities by bringing in buyers from tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India with the Hosted Buyer’s Programme. The organisers are working hard to ensure that buyers meet a maximum number of service providers and exhibitors through pre-scheduled appointments so that they can focus on building great relationships at the event itself. ITB India will be highly innovative, as the organisers strive to bring the newest ideas and concepts in travel and tourism that are set to change future roadmaps for all those in the industry.
“We had high hopes that we could combine an in-person and a virtual event for the very first ITB India. Unfortunately, with travel restrictions in place, and the economic uncertainty resulting from the worldwide pandemic, conditions have become too unpredictable to proceed with the show as a hybrid event as originally planned,” said Messe Berlin (Singapore) managing director, Katrina Leung.
