SATTE 2016 Reflects a Positive Shift in the Travel and Tourism Industry

NEW DELHI, February 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

- Over 750+ Participants From Over 35 Countries and 28 Indian States  

- Supported by UNWTO and Ministry of Tourism, Government of India  

UBM India launched the 23rd edition of South Asia's leading travel trade show SATTE (29th - 31st January) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Chief Guest, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Govt. of India inaugurated the show and graced the occasion with his presence amongst other eminent personalities from participating countries and key people from travel and trade associations. Supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and UNWTO, the three day event witnessed participation from the cross section of global and Indian travel and tourism markets. SATTE this year welcomed representation from over 750 exhibitors and participants from around 35+ countries and 28 Indian states.

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Complimenting SATTE for bringing stakeholders from all over the world and from across the country on a single platform, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (IC) and Civil Aviation put the spotlight on SATTE. "Tourism is not just about visiting one part of the world to another part of the world, or visiting one part of the country to another part of the country, or from one place to another; It's a science. We need to explore it. We need new inventions, experiments. Tourism is a platform for international peace which our great spiritual leaders have given us. Most of the time there has been an international barrier or some sort of resentment between two communities or two countries. The problem has been (lack of) 'Communication.' I think we can take this strength of tourism where we can increase communication; before taking any decisions we should at least use that platform of communicating with the counterpart. So tourism's multifold results and effects need to be weighed and discussed at such (SATTE) forums," Dr. Sharma said in his inaugural address at SATTE 2016.​

SATTE, South Asia's leading B2B travel and tourism trade exhibition, has worked its way to become a catalyst for the Indian travel and tourism sector and has been seeing an overwhelming response from Indian and global players, each visiting the event with high expectancy from the event and its offerings. Having accomplished many milestones over the years, SATTE 2016 is witnessing participation from state tourism boards, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Goa, J&K, Karnataka, Odisha and Rajasthan amongst others. Moreover, the eight North Eastern states have participated under the Incredible India Pavilion of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India.

The current economic conditions and trends have placed India at the helm of travellers around the world. Foreign tourism boards such as Brand USA, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Changi Airport (Singapore), Egypt, Mexico, Malaysia, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkey, Macau, Fiji, Bhutan, Cambodia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Romania and Russia amongst others displayed their composite tourism profile at SATTE.

SATTE 2016 also saw a promising increase in involvement from hospitality players along with the support of international organizations and Indian travel trade associations.

Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India, said, "SATTE has now become an institution and has evolved as a truly global exhibition in this part of the world. The inbound tourism into India and outbound traffic from India is now surging at a phenomenal pace which has also been reflected from the increase in participation at SATTE over the past few years. Our government has also shown a lot of promise from the tourism sector and we are looking forward to some constructive and interesting developments and trends from SATTE's 2016 edition."

Key sessions at SATTE 2016 covered subjects that encompass new trends and insights pertaining to the sector at large. SATTE hosted six panel discussions that brought together stakeholders of the industry on a single platform, allowing exchange of ideas and adding value to Indian tourism at large. The panel discussion included topics such as 'The Relevance of Thematic Tourism Routes in Fostering Regional Collaboration and Prosperity', 'Make in India and Tourism', 'Niche Tourism in India: Challenges and Opportunities', 'Associations Today: Need to re-invent and re-orient to remain relevant and safeguard the member's interest', 'India as a focus for NTOs' and 'Integrated Online Marketing & Distribution Strategy to Enhance Business' along with presentations by tourism boards.

'Industry Reactions' at SATTE 2016, New Delhi  

Destination Asia - Virender Singh, National Sales Manager/India 

"We chose SATTE 2015 as our 1st public appearance in Indian travel and tourism exhibitions and we are proud to say that SATTE was a perfect launching platform, it is the biggest and best platform to meet the best travel professionals, to get the assured business leads. We are very happy with this show and will keep participating in every year."  

Discovery Holidays - Shweta Prasad, Head Of Sales Cruise - North & South India 

"It's been 3rd Year in a row for our participation in SATTE. It is one of the biggest platforms to increase visibility and reach of our products to our esteemed travel agents across the country. Response is good and positive." 

Bonton Holidays - Mr. Syed Asim, Executive Director for SATTE 2016 

"Bonton Holidays has been with SATTE since the inception of the organization itself. We are multinational travel management company with our presence at UAE, Mauritius, Sweden and across all business cities of India. Bonton provides end-to-end services to travel agents and corporates at all international and domestic destinations. Only a platform like SATTE gives us reach to all our stakeholders. 

In the past couple of years, with the support and trust of the business partners, we got recognized by many awards for innovation and excellence in our services. Initiatives by Ministry of Tourism (Govt of India) motivated us to greatly enhance our efforts towards domestic and inbound tourism, reaching out to as many hoteliers and service providers across the country. Once again, we look towards SATTE for showcasing our latest products and offerings as well as deliberating with the travel fraternity from India and abroad." 

Sharaf Travels Pvt Ltd.- Kunal Sampat, General Manager - MSC Cruises, GSA - Sharaf Travels Pvt Ltd. 

"SATTE is undoubtedly the biggest travel event of the country and leading networking forum in the region. SATTE has been very effective in promoting all segments of travel and tourism and we are extremely happy to be a part of this event." 

Topline Products Pvt Ltd - Kanak Puri, Managing Director 

"BhutanBookings is Bhutan's first online travel portal and a leading DMC for the country. Featuring over a 100 hotels in Bhutan, online ticketing for flights to Bhutan on Druk Air & Bhutan Airlines, holiday packages and tours to Bhutan, dedicated ground handling services and a whole lot more. BhutanBookings is proud to participate in SATTE, a premier platform for the travel industry and showcase our Bhutan products and services to visitors and participants. Come visit the land of happiness with us!" 

Oman Tourism - Lubaina Sheerazi, India Representative, Ministry of Tourism 

"The sector needs a platform to showcase its various offerings. SATTE plays a vital role in this regard and manages to bring all good players in the market under one roof. As a tourism board, we receive good enquiries and witness excellent footfalls year after year. Hence, we have been participating at SATTE since many years and hope 2016 gets even better for us."  

"SATTE is a very important event in our calendar and we begin planning for it months in advance trying to get our best partners from Oman to visit India. We try to foster a long lasting relation with the buyers who visit our stall and also look at engaging with new players in the market. SATTE acts as an excellent promoter for our destination, introducing it to new travel agents and operators in India. We also conduct some one-on-one meetings at SATTE that always convert into good business opportunity for us." 

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts - Mr. Toufic Tamim, Vice President Sales and Marketing - Middle East & South Asia 

"Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is delighted to start 2016 with a presence at SATTE - one of the leading travel events in South Asia. Our presence at SATTE allows us to showcase to the thousands of visitors our offerings in the outbound and domestic travel areas.  

Our stand will be a convenient scenario for travel agents to build new relationships and discuss business opportunities as this year we will have more than 10 hotels and resorts represented in our stand from key outbound destinations for the Indian market including Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Dubai, Singapore, Jordan and select European destinations.  

We are very optimistic about our growth in India with our existing hotel in Bangalore performing very well and with the Mövenpick Hotel Kochi set to open this year. SATTE is a platform that also gives us the opportunity to raise awareness about our brand offerings and values to potential owners as we are now looking at further expansions in the key international gateway cities of Mumbai and Delhi and other major destinations such as Gurgaon, Jaipur, Udaipur, Goa and Kolkata." 

Egyptian Tourism - Ismail A. Hamid - Regional Director India & Far East General Consulate of A.R.E 

"SATTE has gained over years an excellent reputation as a leading mart in both leisure and MICE for the northern part of India. It also matches exactly with the proper dates of preparation for the main travel season of Indians. Here we come to learn about new trends, update our contact database and generate business for our destination. Detect, to contact and to contract. This year we have decided to double our space and I believe it will not be the last expansion. Also we are coming with a very special stand design and with rich agenda of activities. 

SATTE 2016 comes as the first big event of the new year. Here we celebrate the success of the last year's figures which witnessed an almost 30% increase in number of Indian footfalls to Egypt and also we plan for the whole coming year. We also believe SATTE is an important gate to tier II and tier III markets which are on our priority this year." 

Cappadocia Cave Resort & Spa - Elvan Kismet - Sales & Marketing 

"At one of the very critical markets of the world including both outbound and inbound operations; I believe SATTE will definitely highlight the main target. Through these kinds of main events we are able to customize the definite needs of the related profiles and different cultures. After meeting with the general view of the global sector we are also able to draw an urgent action plan and definitely it seems that main color of this picture will be borrowed from SATTE this year. 

One of our main marketing plans is already about India as it seems Indian families and couples love visiting Turkey - especially Cappadocia and Istanbul nowadays. We believe that the main source of the guests for Cappadocia will be from your amazing country in near future and not just for leisure or culture visits but also as a destination we would like to be heard more as the hotel and the destination."  

Hong Kong Tourism Board - Mr Peter HOSLIN, Regional Director, Europe & New Markets 

"We look forward to welcoming more and more Indian visitors to Hong Kong. We work very closely with the Indian travel industry to promote the destination with new tour products and innovative itineraries. Towards this goal, we will leverage on SATTE to facilitate a connection between our valuable Indian trade partners and tourism suppliers from Hong Kong for business development."  

Fiji Tourism - Kajal Somaiya, India Representative  

"SATTE serves as an excellent platform to meet and interact with agents not only from tier I cities but also the tier II & tier III cities which are fast becoming important source markets for Tourism Fiji. This is the 4th year that Tourism Fiji will be participating at SATTE, along with its important partners that support the market, and the event has helped us spread awareness on the destination amongst pan Indian travel agents and tour operators. The interest of the travel trade fraternity to promote Fiji is also increasing year-on-year resulting in increased number of Indians travelling to Fiji, be it honeymooners, couples, families or incentive groups." 

Jordan Tourism Board - Ashit Taneja, Country Manager, Jordan Tourism Board  

"As one of the leading B2B travel shows in the country, SATTE generates massive industry response year on year. It is an excellent platform to network and engage with the industry professionals at pan India level. It provides a great opportunity to interact with travel agents and tour operators, fellow exhibitors and delegates. 

2016 has started on a good note as we are returning to SATTE after a gap of few years. For this year, we will drive all our marketing initiatives towards promoting Jordan's MICE and wedding segment. During the course of the 3-day event we will get a chance to network with agents from all across India particularly from the North region which is a vital market for us. We will keep them abreast on the developments and our plans for 2016."  

Notable launches at SATTE 2016:  

This year, SATTE witnessed new launches from participants such as:

1) ONYX Hospitality Group  

- The ONYX Hospitality Group launched new properties in the Indian Ocean and South Asian sub-continent. These include Amari Havodda Maldives, OZO Kandy Sri Lanka and upcoming hotels such as Amari Koh Samui and Amari Residences Pattaya in Thailand, Amari Galle in Sri Lanka and OZO Hoi An in Vietnam.

2) Korea Tourism Organization  

- Korea Tourism launched the K-smile campaign in relation to the Visit Korea Year 2016-2018. The campaign focuses on creating awareness amongst travelers around the world to revisit Korea, after experiencing the warm hospitality during their visit in South Korea.

3) Iceland & Greenland Travel 

- Iceland & Greenland Travel launched a new Northern Lights Program in Iceland, called Aurora Chaser Iceland, searching for northern lights on foot, by bus, by boat and by snowmobile. This exclusive program includes a monster truck tour onto a glacier, a glacier hike, a visit in the world's largest man-made ice cave and bathing at the amazing geothermal Blue Lagoon.

4) Hong Kong Tourism Board  

• In 2016, Hong Kong Tourism will have Star Plus' longest running prime time show 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai' shooting in Hong Kong.
• Will continue to use their digital channels to engage travellers and have a specialist travel trade website tailored for the Indian trade partners at PartnerNet (http://www.PartnerNet.hktb.com ) which provides a business platform for Indian trade to get connected to the Hong Kong suppliers and latest tourism news.
• T heir Hong Kong Specialist on-line training programme will give practical tips for the trade on what and how to better sell Hong Kong. A 'Hong Kong Specialist' e-certificate will be issued to agents who completed the programme with satisfactory results.

5) Dubai Parks and Resorts  

- Dubai Parks and Resorts announced the launch of their resort which is slated to commence in October 2016. The Resort will feature Motiongate™ Dubai - a unique theme park showcasing some of Hollywood's most beloved characters from DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Studios and Lionsgate as well as the region's first LEGOLAND® Park and a LEGOLAND® Water Park. The Resort will also feature Bollywood Parks™ Dubai and the entire destination will be connected by Riverland™ Dubai - a retail, dining and entertainment walkway and guests can stay at the Lapita™ Hotel, a Polynesian-themed resort catering to families.

6) Fiji Tourism  

- Fiji Airways announced the commencement of direct flights from Singapore to Nadi twice a week effective April 2016. It also announced the introduction of the fourth flight on the Hong Kong - Nadi route.

7) QuadLabs Technologies  

-QuadLabs Technologies launched Konnect.travel as an on-demand platform for travel agents to manage and run their business along with a marketplace of travel content from global suppliers. This platform will bring all agents and suppliers on a single platform to transact with each other. This will not only make the content available to the agents but will also enable the agents to do a full transaction through the platform.

About UBM India Pvt. Ltd.  

UBM India is India's leading exhibition organizer that provides the industry with platforms that bring together buyers and sellers from around the world, through a portfolio of exhibitions, content led conferences and seminars. UBM India hosts over 25 large-scale exhibitions and 40 conferences across the country every year; thereby enabling trade across multiple industry verticals. A UBM Asia Company, UBM India has offices across Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. UBM Asia is owned by UBM plc which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. UBM Asia is the leading exhibition organizer in Asia and the biggest commercial organizer in mainland China, India and Malaysia. For further details, please visit ubmindia.in.

Media Contact:

Mili Lalwani
mili.lalwani@ubm.com
+91-022-61727000
UBM India