SATTE most sought-after travel and tourism event in South Asia

NEW DELHI, India – Over the years, SATTE has received tremendous response from national tourism boards, Indian states, hotel chains, airlines, and tourism products from across the globe. SATTE has always played a vital role in promoting diverse segments of tourism and has now evolved as a leading travel event in South Asia. The vast participation of many major Indian and global players and the presence of the who’s who from the travel industry is testimony to the importance the travel and tourism industry gives to SATTE. The 20th edition of SATTE will be held in New Delhi from January 16-18, 2013 and in Mumbai from January 21-22, 2013.

Sajid Desai, Group Director, UBM India, is quite bullish about SATTE 2013. “India’s tourism has consistently been growing at a rapid pace. While foreign tourist arrivals during January-September witnessed a growth of 5.9 percent over the corresponding period in 2011, outbound and domestic tourism are notching a growth of 12 percent,” he said. He further added that the recent measures taken by the government of India, such as FDI in aviation and the intention of extending Visa-on-Arrival facility to a few more countries, are further going to provide impetus to the Indian tourism industry. “The Prime Minister is quite hopeful of achieving the GDP growth rate of 8 percent during the 12th Five-year Plan. We all know that tourism always grows at twice the GDP growth rate of any country,” Desai said.

While the Ministry of Tourism, government of India, has already confirmed their participation in SATTE 2013, State Tourism Boards such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Lakshwadeep have confirmed their participation at SATTE 2013. Other states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal among others are also in the process of confirming their participation.

NTOs from over 33 countries including Abu Dhabi, Argentina, Bhutan, Botswana, Brand USA, China, Dubai, Egypt , Ethiopia, Fiji Islands, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore’s Changi Airport, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey among many others have either confirmed or are in the process of confirming their participation at SATTE 2013.

This year, the participation of countries, states, and tourism products are quite encouraging. Some of the key exhibitors, including Thailand, Turkey, Malaysia, Maldives, and Indonesia, among others, have increased their stand size considerably, and several more have evinced their interests for the same. “The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai travel trade are expecting to meet more potential buyers and travel trade partners from India at SATTE 2013 at our stand no. 1159. We would like to thank the Indian travel trade and media for supporting Thailand. This year, TAT has a much larger space, and buyers will meet more partners from the popular destinations in Thailand, as well a variety of services and products,” said Runjuan Tongrut, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Delhi office.

Similarly, Singapore’s Changi Airport, which is participating in SATTE for the first time, is further creating awareness about their facilities and services in Indian market through SATTE. “Singapore Changi Airport is participating in SATTE for the first time together with the Singapore Tourism Board, inbound travel operators, attractions, and hoteliers under a Singapore Pavilion. India, being one of the top 5 visitor arrival source markets for Singapore and the seventh largest market for Changi Airport in 2011, is an important market for us,” said Peh Ke-Wei, Vice President, Passenger Development, Changi Airport Group, and added, “Our partners and we look forward to SATTE 2013 being an excellent B2B platform to strengthen our presence here, as well as network with key Indian travel buyers.”

Arturo Ortiz, Tourism Counselor, Spain Tourism Board, said: “We have been very happy with SATTE, and the success can be measured considering the size of the event and the size of our stand there. Even though we have had budget restrictions in Spain, SATTE Delhi is one of the top 10 exhibitions in which we will keep participating. At SATTE 2013, we will have representatives from both Madrid and Barcelona, plus we will be promoting cruises. We will have at least 8 Spanish DMCs from Madrid and Barcelona and also from Andalusia present.”

SATTE has received the support of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNTWO) and International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) along with leading tourism associations of India such as the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI), Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA), Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), and Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI).

While the participation of countries, states, and tourism products is quite encouraging, the number for registered buyers is also increasing with every passing day – 542 registered National buyers and 168 International buyer applications has been received besides business visitors. SATTE has revamped its buyer program this year to offer an incentivized pre-scheduled appointments system that allows for buyers to schedule appointments ensuring the opportunity to get business done on the show floor. Desai expects a growth of 15 percent in terms of net space and buyers for SATTE 2013. “I urge the stakeholders of the tourism industry and tourism associations to come forward and extend their support to SATTE 2013 to make it a grand success. I am thankful to all associations, hoteliers, airlines, NTOs, State Tourism Boards, tourism products, and the Ministry of Tourism, government of India for supporting SATTE over the years,” added Desai.

ETurboNews is a media partner for SATTE, and SATTE and UBM are associate members of the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP), a fast-growing grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth.