India s leading trade show on. Business, MICE and Luxury Travel Post Show Report January Leela Ambience Convention Hotel-Delhi

Transcription

1 India s leading trade show on Business, MICE and Luxury Travel 2019 Post Show Report January Leela Ambience Convention Hotel-Delhi

2 BLTM & 19 JANUARY The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel Delhi

3 BLTM 2019 BLTM 2019 REGISTERED HIGH INTEREST FROM BUYERS AND SELLERS, GREW 50% OVER LAST YEAR Launched in 2016, India s first full-fledged travel mart BLTM is dedicated to Business, MICE and Luxury Travel. Recently concluded BLTM 2019 was held on 18th and 19th January at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi. Qualified buyers from the capital and the rest of India were hosted at the event. BLTM Delhi experienced an unprecedented footfall of 1,225 B2B visitors and more than 260 buyers from India. All participants were fully hosted at the show venue hotel. The 2:1 Hosted Buyer to Seller ratio along with additional footfall kept the travel mart always abuzz. Dignitaries who graced the BLTM inauguration were H.E. John A.E. Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka; H.E. Austin Fernando, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in India; Kumar De Silva, Chairman, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau; Dr Trust Lin, Director of Taiwan Tourism Bureau; Ismail Amer, Egyptian Tourism Counsellor; Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC Group; Suresh M, Chairman, EEMA; Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman and CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd. and V Suresh, President, Fairfest Media Ltd. and others. We have been participating at BLTM for the past two years and the show has grown enormously since then. Last year, we received some great response from the travel trade sector and this year too our co-participants were glad to be a part of BLTM. The buyers here at BLTM mean business and they have great potential as well. I would love to be a part of upcoming BLTMs, said Dr Trust Lin, Director of Taiwan Tourism Bureau. The show opens doors to India s 6.5 million outbound luxury and MICE tourists, as well as the fastest growing business travel market in the world. Gracing the largest country pavilion at BLTM was Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, returning participant from last year. The event also saw enthusiastic participation from National Tourist Organisations (NTOs) from Dubai, Egypt, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Spain, Greece and Philippines. Spain Tourism, in association with Warq Tourism and Palladium Hotel Group held a Entertainment Evening for Hosted Buyers. A destination presentation on Spain was followed by an evening filled with dance performances, a selection 113 exhibitors from 24 Countries and 13 Indian States and Union Territories showcased at the two-day event. of Spanish drinks and food, giving key Indian buyers a taste of Spanish hospitality and its rich culture. Major Indian Tourism Boards matched up to their international counterparts. The Indian State Tourism Boards (STBs) of Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Punjab ensured their representation with a large number of sellers to showcase India at its best. Some of the star exhibitors of BLTM 2019 included Hotel & Restaurant Association of Bhutan, Ambuja Neotia, Leisure & Luxury Hotels and Resorts, RailYatri.in, Denzong Leisure and Spiceland Holidays. Some of the event partners put their best foot forward and put on a stupendous show. Cox and Kings, BLTM s knowledge partner organised a destination workshop on Georgia and Azerbaijan on the inaugural day. Air India and Ethiopian Airlines were the Partner Airlines while the Ground Transportation Partner was Eco Rent A Car - Europcar. Just Click Karo.Com was the online B2B Travel Partner. Some exhibitors who attended another prominent travel mart in Greater Noida and then shifted to BLTM opined that the event provided a better Return on Investment (ROI) while others concluded the event was just as good. The onsite meeting was one of the most anticipated features of BLTM. Buyers and sellers interacted face-toface, fresh appointments were made on the floor and pre-made appointments were hosted with ease. Hosted Buyers at BLTM included corporate travel planners with purchasing authority, travel companies catering to business, leisure, MICE and luxury travel, MICE travel managers and buyers, MICE organisers and managers, business travel managers and buyers, film destination companies, associations, wedding planners and H.E. JOHN AMARATUNGA Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka This was my first time at BLTM and I was surprised by the number of participants that have come here from all over all over India and the world. It s a great platform for Sri Lanka to showcase our MICE and Business tourism products. Next year we will lend all our best support to the organisers of BLTM who have done a great job in conducting such a grand show. event management companies. One of the Hosted Buyers, Preeta Venugopal, Executive Office Administration, Bekaert Industries Pvt Ltd said, This was my first time at BLTM and I think organisers have put in a lot of effort to make the show look perfect. I got to see many different exhibitors from all over the world and India. I was amazed to see so many new destinations in India. BLTM will definitely help me in planning my next travel as it has provided me with perfect suppliers. I want to thank the organisers for giving me a chance to spectate a great show like BLTM. BLTM filled a vacuum in the evolution of travel trade shows in India by sustaining an event focussed on business travel and MICE buyers. This year, the show attracted a large number of B2B visitors from leisure sector as well. However, presence of more than a 100 corporate buyers is what makes it unique, remarked Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO of Fairfest Media Ltd. the organisers. Many of the buyers and sellers at BLTM Delhi also participated in OTM Mumbai a couple of days later, from 23 to 25 January, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre. 1 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 2

4 Indian States & Union Territories Represented at BLTM 2019 Andaman & Nicobar Andhra Pradesh Dadra & Nagar Haveli Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Kerala Maharashtra Punjab Rajasthan West Bengal Countries Represented at BLTM 2019 Hosted Buyers From Various Indian Cities Agra, Ahmedabad, Ahmednagar, Amritsar, Anantnag, Bangalore, Bhavnagar, Bhubneswar, Calicut, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Dhanu, Erode, Gondia, Guwahati Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Kota, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Meerut, Moradabad, Mumbai, Nagpur Nashik, Navsari, Pune, Raebareli, Raipur, Rajkot, Siliguri, Surat, Surendranagar, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vesu, Zirakpur. 5% National Tourist Organisations 3% Related Services 29% Hotels /Resorts Participants by Category 3% Related Services 22% Hotels /Resorts 30% Tour Operators / Travel Agents % Convention Bureaus 4% Indian State Governments 58% Tour Operators / Travel Agents 20% National Tourist Organisations 5% Convention Bureaus 20% Indian State Governments Distribution of Space Occupied Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, Dubai, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, India, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom, UAE Exhibitors 24 Countries 6,000+ Scheduled Appointments BLTM 2019 BY THE NUMBERS 90+ VIP Buyers 13 Indian States ,200+ Trade Buyers Hosted Buyers 3 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 4

5 Corporate Buyers at BLTM 2019 India is the fastest growing business travel market in the world. The top corporate companies in the country attend BLTM to source all their business and MICE travel requirements and meet destinations from all over India as well as abroad. 5 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 6

6 Exhibitor Testimonials KUMAR DE SILVA LISHA KRISHNAN SANGEETA RANA VED PANDEY MURTAZA KALENDER MARTA MARTINS Chairman, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau Trade Manager, Tourism Office of Spain - Mumbai Executive Director, Hotel & Resorts Association of Bhutan Sr. Manager, Himachal Tourism Managing Director, Travel Shop Turkey General Manager - Business Strategy, HF Hotels This was our third time at BLTM and it is a very well-organised show and we were very pleased with all the arrangements. We had very good interactions with the buyers and visitors as well. The buyers here were very qualified and exactly the type we were targeting. We will continue to lend our support to BLTM. This was our first time at BLTM and responses from the buyers were outstanding. We met many quality buyers who were interested in our products and events such as BLTM always help us in networking with high quality travel trade from all over. Overall, BLTM was a wellorganised event. We heard about BLTM in last year s OTM and that s what motivated us to take part in BLTM I was overwhelmed by the responses from the visitors, we received many positive enquiries from the visitors and buyers. We would like to participate in the upcoming BLTMs as well. We have been associated with BLTM for three years now and we have seen tremendous transformation in terms of number of participants and buyers. We have received robust responses from the visitors of the show and it speaks volumes about the quality of the show. We wish the organisers good luck for their future endeavours. Turkey has some of the greatest MICE, luxury and wedding destinations and BLTM is one of the best platforms to market these products to a wide range of qualified buyers, visitors and travel trade. The organisers have done a great job in delivering such an excellent event. We received a lot of good enquiries from the visitors We have encountered great responses in these two days, visitors have shown good interest in our products. Our participation in BTLM will result in great business and help us in increasing the brand awareness amongst the Indian MICE and luxury agents. I thank the organisers for showing enormous support to us. SANDEEP KUMAR MEENA ISMAIL AMER ZANENDRA NATH SARKER SHINEBAYAR ODSUREN SAURAV BISWAS HARNISH SINGH Sales, GSA STIC Travels (Ethiopian Airlines) Egyptian Tourism Counsellor, Regional Director Far East & Pacific Countries Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism, Bangladesh Sales & Tour Manager, Tour Mongolia Director-Sales, Sana Beach Vice President- B2C & MICE, Just Click Karo We had participated in the previous edition of BLTM and the chance to network with the corporates and travel trade from across India makes the show a fantastic platform. BLTM is a great floor to market our MICE products and the quality buyers here give us a great opportunity to discuss serious business with them. This was our first time at BLTM and we were very satisfied to be a part of the show. Last year I visited the show as a visitor and this time I have decided to the part of the show as an exhibitor. This year I found out the number of exhibitors is even higher than last year and the show has grown enormously from the previous year. I wish the organisers good luck for their upcoming projects. BLTM was an excellent opportunity to showcase our varied tourism products. The show was very well organised and the venue was excellent too. We have participated with 8 co-participants and all of them had busy business schedules here in BLTM. Shows like BLTM will help us in getting MICE and Luxury travellers to Bangladesh. At BLTM, we got a chance to network with so many travel trade as well as corporate buyers from all over India. We received some outstanding responses from the buyers for Mongolia. Exhibiting here at BTLM will help us in knowing the Business and MICE segment here in India and will also help us serving the Indian clients better. It was an overwhelming experience for me to be a part of BLTM. I was amazed to see the enthusiasm of the buyers who meant business. Shows like BLTM definitely help the hospitality industry by providing right type of audience for our varied tourism products and it will also help us in the long run. The organisers did a great job in pulling off such an excellent show. I wish them good luck for their future endeavours. BLTM is one of the marquee MICE and luxury travel marts in India and it provides us perfect platform to showcase our varied products to a large, qualified travel trade as well as corporate buyers from all over India and the world. I want to thank and congratulate the organisers for their exceptional work. 7 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 8

7 Exhibitors at BLTM 9 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 10

8 Buyer Testimonials ANUJ AGARWAL DIANA DABHOLKAR RAJESH VIRA ALFREDO BENEDICTO FARYA LOKHANDWALA PRAIRNA KHULLER Head - Sales, Shree Corp Manager - Travel, Accelya Kale Solutions Limited Jash Holidays Director, Global Travel a la Carte Manager Business Development, Fab Groupaways Chief Planner, Events Inspired This was my first time at BLTM and I was overwhelmed by the quality of exhibitors present here. I am a regular visitor of many trade shows around the world but BLTM is truly a global standard show here in India. The online meeting diary feature of BLTM is very professionally executed, it helped in setting up meetings with various exhibitors in a go. BLTM is a great platform for people who want to explore new places and make travel plans. My overall experience here at BLTM was fantastic. The quality of suppliers was outstanding, people were very nice and co-operative. I had interacted with various quality exhibitors from all over India as well as other countries. BLTM was a very informative event. Suppliers were very keen on networking and provided a lot of needed information. Best thing about BLTM was we got ample chance to have a one on one meetings with the suppliers which is not possible in other trade events. BTLM has grown enormously from previous year and I saw the number of exhibitors have also double from last year. BLTM was a great experience. Exhibitors here mean business and they were highly knowledgeable about their products. The suppliers mix was great. There were a lot of international suppliers as well suppliers from India. The online meeting diary feature of BLTM was excellent as it really helped in getting the appointments fixed with the exhibitors. Overall, it was an outstanding show with a fantastic venue. This was my first time at BLTM and I was quite impressed with the quality of organisation and exhibitors mix. Everything here was scheduled, from the meetings to the conferences giving us chances to explore the show in much organised manner. I used the online meeting diary feature of BLTM and it was up to the mark in helping me to schedule the meetings. The experience is always great in visiting a show like BLTM, the organisers put in a lot of effort in pulling off such a great event. In BLTM, I have networked with lots of exhibitors who meant business and response from them was excellent. BLTM is one such platform which helps us in meeting all the national, state boards and DMCs under the same roof. DR ABHIJIT SARKAR RAMANPREET SINGH MANOJ DUGGAL PREETA VENUGOPAL MELANY CARVALHO BHAVESH THAKKER Country Head CRE,Admin,Infra & Travel, Sharekhan Limited Senior Sales Partner, Skil Travel Vice President - Finance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited Executive Office Administration, Bekaert Industries Pvt Ltd Executive Assistant- Leadership Team, FIS Global La Vena Tours & travels Travel has become very challenging activity, platforms like BLTM help in optimising the travel plan for corporates like us and allow us to network with travel giants from all over the India and world under the same roof. The quality of exhibitors at BLTM was fantastic as there were a lot of DMCs, NTOs, STBs and hotels to choose from. This year the turnout of exhibitors was fantastic, different countries, states and hotels were here at BLTM. BLTM is surely one of the best MICE and luxury show in India as it helps all the players from these segments to come together and showcase their varied products under the same roof. Exhibitors from all walks of the travel industry were present here and that s what I love about BLTM. I had an excellent time here at BLTM. We met and networked with lots of local players and DMCs who had great potential. BLTM provides us the benefit of choosing from the best. I would request organisers to conduct BLTM in every metro city across India once in a year. This was my first time at BLTM and the organisers have put in a lot of effort to make the show look perfect. I got to see many different exhibitors from India as well as all over the world. I was amazed to see so many new destinations in India. BLTM will definitely help me in planning my next travel as it has provided me with perfect suppliers. I want to thank the organisers for giving me a chance to spectate a great show like BLTM. BLTM helped in exploring new destinations and getting information about these destinations. It was a great experience as we met so many suppliers under the same roof. After attending BLTM, I got to know that there are a lot of new MICE and luxury destinations in India itself. We are sure of participating next year in OTM. BLTM was very well-organised event and there were many quality exhibitors here. The show also featured new and upcoming destinations and DMCs which was quite phenomenal. The online meeting diary feature was very good. I want to congratulate the organisers Fairfest Media for such an excellent show. I wish them good luck for their upcoming shows. 11 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 12

9 Building Connections at BLTM 13 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 14

10 Destination Weddings DESTINATION WEDDINGS HAVE BEEN AT THE TOP OF THE POPULARITY In keeping with the rising demand, WeddingSutra conducted a session on Destination Weddings. The interactive session was focussed on the market for Boutique Venues and had marquee wedding planners interacting with industry experts on wedding planning. CHARTS IN THE INDIAN WEDDING MARKET Cox & Kings This session saw two presentations given by Tina Singh, representative of Azerbaijan Tourism Board in India and by Natalia Dvali, representative of Cox & Kings in Georgia. The presentation took the attendees on a tour of the hidden gems of the beautiful countries of Azerbaijan and Georgia. The session also was a cultural exploration of these destinations, in terms of COX & KINGS, THE KNOWLEDGE PARTNER OF BLTM 2019 ORGANISED A DESTINATION WORKSHOP ON GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN. history, local food and festivals, best seasons to visit. Cox & Kings also launched travel packages to Azerbaijan and Georgia at the event. 15 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 16

11 Buyer-Seller Speed Networking A HUGE SUCCESS AT BLTM Destination Presentation & Entertainment Evening by Spain Spain Tourism added a distinct flavour to BLTM Spain Tourism, in association with Warq Tourism and Palladium Hotel Group held a cocktail dinner and entertainment evening for Hosted Buyers. A destination presentation on the host country was followed by a cultural evening with a selection of Spanish food, beverages and dance performances. The evening was aimed at providing Hosted Buyers a taste of Spanish hospitality. Pa ners Onsite meeting was one of the most anticipated features of BLTM. Buyers and sellers interacted face-to-face, fresh appointments were made on the floor and premade appointments were hosted with ease. Online Meeting Diary, a hi-tech and user-friendly meeting scheduler launched by the organisers, Fairfest Media was very well-received in terms of making the buyer and seller matchmaking and the appointment process hassle-free. Buyers were seated by their company names, where sellers met and scheduled appointments with them on the show floor. This year, over 6,000 meetings took place at the show. 17 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT

12 Sessions & Workshops A workshop on Urban Travel and the Future Trends of MICE was conducted by SITE. Industry experts specialising in Incentive Travel shared their knowledge on the business events sector and future of outbound tourism. A panel discussion followed, focussed on the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as part of MICE opportunities. The panellists included Anup Nair, SITE India President and Managing Director, Inspiration India; Vikas Sood, SITE India Vice President in Events; Gopinath Nair, Coordinator Education & Training, NIMA and Tourism DNA, Bengaluru. A destination workshop on USA, Almaty, Paris and Japan was hosted by Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA). A knowledge session followed the destination presentations where the importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in building long-standing associations was discussed. The session also took a close look at the impact of technology in travel industry and its future implications. NIMA, in association with BLTM organised an interactive session on Incentive Travel and New Destinations to Focus in the MICE sector. Panellist Gopinath Nair discussed the importance of creating personalised experiences, prospects of luxury travel and the impact of CSR in the MICE domain. Later, rising MICE destinations were also discussed which included Almaty, Japan, Jakarta and others. A session on Experientialising MICE was conducted by Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA). The panel discussion focussed on the importance of personalised experiences and effective communication in creating an impact in the MICE domain. 19 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 20

13 Glimpses of the Show 21 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 22

14 Glimpses of the Show 23 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT BLTM POST SHOW REPORT 24

15 Part ners & Support ing Organisations At BLTM 2019 BLTM JANUARY & 01 FEBRUARY The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel Delhi 25 BLTM POST SHOW REPORT

16 New Delhi Tel / 75 Fax Address 3216 A/1, Gautam Nagar, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi