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EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY CONTENTS

Foreword Introduction Using travel exhibitions Setting your objectives Choosing the right show Planning Getting the stand right Promotion Stand staffing Working the exhibition 2 3 5 8 12 15 19 24 27 30 33 36

Effective Exhibiting Made Easy


Your guide to getting the best out of Travel and Trade Fairs
INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TRADE FAIRS ASSOCIATION

Follow up Technology Calendar of Tourism and Travel Fairs ITTFA Members


Single Members Group Members Partners

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We wish to thank the UNWTO for their support in publishing the original Guide to Exhibiting in liaison with the ITTFA and for their endorsement

www.ittfa.org

of this updated publication.

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FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the World of Exhibitions


There is no doubt that exhibitions are an extremely powerful sales and marketing tool for the travel industry, whether they are exhibitions aimed at the international travel trade itself or those targeted at members of the travel-buying public. The International Tourism Trade Fairs Association, ITTFA, was originally set up in 1992 as ETTFA, European Tourism Trade Fairs Association. In 2005 the Association was ready to become global and opened its membership to trade fairs across the globe. It now represents some of the major shows worldwide. Along with its Secretariat in London, Officers meets three times a year to seek new ways to encourage increased participation in travel shows and provide help and encouragement to travel organisations new to exhibitions. The associations key goals remain as follows;

The growth of Travel and Tourism Exhibitions


mere 350 exhibitors turned out for the very first World Travel Market, staged at Londons Olympia back in 1980. At the 2009 event, the exhibition total at Excel was over 5000 exhibitors.

However, it is not only the sheer scale of the event that has changed. World Travel Market celebrated its Silver Anniversary in 2004 and 25 years on the exhibition format has changed, the competitive environment in which it operates has changed, and most importantly and significantly the commercial philosophies of both exhibitors and visitors have changed. In the past two decades alone, the travel industry has developed and matured almost beyond recognition. Travel exhibitions have had to do likewise. Pre-1980, such travel shows as did exist tended to be, at best, national or affiliation based affairs, usually masterminded on behalf of travel agency associations like Frances SNAV, or by broaderbased tourism associations like PATA. Even the mighty ITB Berlin, which at least made some pretence towards internationalism, was an essentially German affair with comparatively few international visitors.

To represent the industry at national and international forums. Introduce common standards at each of the members fairs. Guarantee minimum levels of services and constantly improve those levels for participants. To act as a common voice on issues affecting participants. Establish a database of key players within the industry and keep them regularly informed of developments. Support new shows in developing markets.

GLOBAL FOCUS
Travel is now truly global. International airline competition drove the technological developments that culminated in the global distribution system; business traveller demand spurred partnership deals between differing travel suppliers; the GDS in turn became an enabling mechanism not only for inter-airline alliances, but for alliances of travel industry groupings of all kinds. And now the use of the internet and on-line bookings is driving global distribution even further. Travel exhibitions have, of necessity, followed suit. Exhibitor lists are strewn with multinational travel corporations and alliances. Their presence encourages other global players not directly involved in travel, such as computer software specialists, financial institutions, regulatory and single-issue lobby groups, the media and many more. The character of the exhibitor has changed in other ways too. Public demand, primarily in the developed world, for greater fiscal accountability, had placed unprecedented pressure on the budgets of governmental organisations. In the case of many exhibitions, this has manifested itself in a growth of umbrella exhibitors or shared stands. Major European and US involvement is now increasingly dependent on the input of sub-national organisations or local and regional tourist boards banded together with smaller private-sector enterprise under one collective banner.

In this dynamic and ever challenging environment, travel trade fairs provide the backbone to the industry and a place in which we can all meet and exchange knowledge and aspirations that will help our industry grow stronger and become even more valuable. To assist exhibitors in planning and promoting themselves at members events, ITTFA has produced this comprehensive guide which I and my colleagues at ITTFA hope you will find useful, whether you are new to travel shows or are a veteran looking to further improve the benefits your organisation gains by taking part in these prime travel and tourism events. We look forward to seeing you at one of our ITTFA member fairs in the near future and hope that you will find this guide a benefit to you and your business.

BUSINESSLIKE APPROACH
Greater demand of a visible return on investment has also changed the nature of the exhibit. A glamorously staffed, eye-catching stand offering over-generous amounts of hospitality is no longer the norm. Exhibitor presence is now seen to be not only a meet and greet opportunity, but also an increasingly imperatively sign, seal and deliver opportunity.

TOM NUTLEY CHAIRMAN, ITTFA

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INTRODUCTION
As a consequence, the commercial calibre of exhibitors stand personnel has soared. Public relations representatives have been joined, if not actually replaced, by sales, marketing and commercial directors. Their presence has led to a more business-like environment. In addition to stand space, exhibition organisers now provide a range of add-ons, including meeting and conference rooms and facilities, appointments programmes, keynote speakers and seminars and often pre-show educational sessions on how to get the most out of exhibiting. In the early years of travel fairs, many an exhibitor justified his presence by saying: Youve got to be seen to be here if youre not here people will ask why. Today, the question does not often arise. You are there because you can make it work. If you are not there, it is because you can not make it work and that is not the fault of the exhibition.

CHAPTER 1

HIGHER STANDARDS
Perhaps the greatest change of the past few decades has been in the character of the exhibition visitor. Exhibitors will probably never completely eliminate the fun day out fraternity, for whom networking is just one vowel away from not working, but participants have grown in quality as well as quantity. In part, this is due to the same increased commercial pressures experienced by the exhibitors. In part, the higher standards among exhibitors have necessitated higher standards in exhibitions; and in part it is because relevant and potentially rewarding exhibitions have proliferated. Instead of taking a week out to attend just one show, purchasers are now taking in three, four, and more exhibitions in the same time. The workload at any one exhibition is the same, but the time available to tackle it has been greatly reduced. Mexico Tourism Board Regional Director for Europe, Manuel Diaz Cebrian, speaks for both sides of the great exhibition debate when he says: It is not the public relations exercise it once was. You can still treat it as such, and of course it will work, but its not what people want. The World Travel Market, the ITB approach thats much more beneficial. If you treat it as a PR exercise, that is all it will be. Any major travel fair will always present almost unrivalled public, trade and media relations opportunities, and those opportunities are bigger now than they have ever been. In two decades, however, the travel industry has grown up. Reflecting that new maturity, travel shows command far greater loyalty as commercial opportunities.

USING TRAVEL EXHIBITIONS

TRAVEL AND TOURISM TRADE FAIRS

Everything you need to know about taking part


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ravel and Tourism exhibitions can be a highly cost-effective sales and marketing tool combining all the best characteristics of advertising, promotions, direct mail and selling, either through tour operators and travel agents or, in the case of public shows, directly to consumers.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


As an exhibitor, it is important to promote your presence at an exhibition in advance as well as provide visitors with a reason to visit your stand while the show is open. A good way of highlighting your presence is to hold some type of function or event on your stand like a drinks reception, raffle or competition where people can meet, network and find out further information on your products and services. It is also important that you choose the correct stand personnel and brief them fully on what is expected. Stand personnel should always look interested and approachable. Ensure you follow up all leads post-show otherwise all the effort you put in will be wasted. Remember: The most satisfied exhibitors are those who put in the work pre-show, onsite and during follow up to get the best return on investment.

A. Like direct marketing, they deliver highly-targeted promotions, with very little wastage. B. Like advertising, they deliver positive messages quickly and effectively to a large audience across wide geographical areas. C. Like personal selling, they permit fact-to-face contact as the most effective means of establishing and building client relations in a particularly time-efficient manner. Add to this the networking which goes on between travel professionals at all travel and tourism exhibitions, together with the all-enveloping travel environment created by the shows and you have the ideal ingredients for creating extra business. A wide range of sales and marketing objectives can, therefore, be achieved through creative use of exhibitions.

Direct sales, in the case of consumer travel shows. New product/destination launches. Lead generation. Penetration of new markets. Building and maintaining client/customer relations. Market research. Database building. Recruiting new tour operators/travel agents to sell products. Networking/intelligence gathering.

Research shows that more than 80% of visitors to travel and tourism trade fairs are decision-makers who rate exhibitions as the most cost-effective information source for new products, destinations and services. They attend travel and tourism exhibitions to:

Gather information on a wide range of products/ services in a short space of time. Plan strategy and generate new ideas. Meet new suppliers. Network with other travel and tourism professionals. Compare different products, services and destinations. Do all this in a neutral environment.

CASE STUDY 1
Travel exhibitions form a key part of the NTV marketing strategy. They are an excellent, cost-effective way of testing the market, particularly internationally, of establishing a database, keeping track of your competitors, meeting with new and existing clients and allowing them to experience a little taster of your destination. TTG Incontri is an operating exhibition, where one can meet all market players, a very important appointment in the year for our company Edmondo Boscoscuro, sales manager NTV

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CHAPTER 2

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aking part in a travel or tourism exhibition without first having a clear view of why you are there is an almost certain recipe for failure. Setting your objectives is, therefore, an important starting point for any exhibition, giving direction to all aspects of your participation.

This will make it possible to measure objectively the result of the exhibition, instead of making such judgement merely subjective. At the same time having a clear objective will help you establish budgetary requirements, motivate your staff and justify your participation next time around. The goals you set for yourself need to be formulated as concretely as possible. They must be realistic, open to evaluation and have a time limit in order to facilitate and provide a firm base for future work. Possible objectives to strive for include:

Increase sales of products/services. Meet clients/contacts at a trade show or customers at a public show. You can meet more people at an exhibition than your sales team could achieve in months on the road. And travel and tourism exhibitions provide much more scope for building and cementing relationships than a letter, phone call or sales call. They also provide an opportunity for your clients to meet other members of your team and learn more about your operation. Obtain market intelligence and gauge response to various products/services. Launch a new product/service or introduce different pricing strategies. Penetrate a new market. Exhibitions can provide a quick and dynamic way to make an impact. Change/enhance your companys/organisations image. Exhibitions provide a sure means of presenting your organisation to the marketplace and careful attention to stand design and staff performance can do a lot to enhance your image as a professional company, an innovator, a market leader or a friendly serviceorientated organisation. Carry out market testing and research. Travel and tourism exhibitions provide the perfect opportunity to gain feedback from other travel professionals or customers on what the market is demanding now and what will be the likely demands for the future. Exhibitions provide one of the best environments for spotting trends early enough to capitalise on them. Study the activities of your competitors.

SETTING YOUR OBJECTIVES

In order to ensure that the objectives you set are appropriate and attainable you need to : 1. Know what you want to sell or communicate. 2. Know your target market. 3. Quantify your objectives in order to set a goal. 4. Ensure your targets are achievable.

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5. Prioritise your objectives dont try to do too much or give too many different messages or your resources will be stretched and your participation unfocused. 6. Communicate your objectives to your entire exhibition team.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


CASE STUDY 2
Exhibitions are a versatile and flexible marketing tool. If prepared, it will allow marketers to put in place a cost effective and efficient marketing strategy. However, there will be little or no results if the company exhibiting does not do its homework and set goals to measure their exhibition activities closely. Too often, I witness exhibitors that did not plan their exhibition agenda and consequently, would not receive the dividends that they should. Spending a little time to define the goals, the location of the stand (in a group or individual), the clarity of your sales/marketing message can lay strong foundations for the success to an Event. Exhibitors should not be shy to ask the organisers about the pre-show PR , advertising and sponsorship opportunities available. You never get a better chance to get your message across than at an exhibition. Maria Badakh Head of Sales ITE Group ITE Exhibitions

CHOOSING YOUR TARGET MARKET


Once you have defined your main goals, the next step is to give careful consideration to which sectors of the travel industry or the public at the exhibition you want to direct your sales and marketing efforts towards. Based on your knowledge of the visitor groups attending the show including those you as an exhibitor might have invited, decide how you can best attract your chosen targets to visit your stand. In the case of travel trade shows, it may be possible to arrange prebooked appointments, for example, or you may want to consider staging a drinks reception on your stand for selected guests. Work and liaise with the exhibition organisers as they will be able to advise you on ways to target visitors and can perhaps help with database or special promotions. By staying focused on your target market at all times you will stand a better-than- average chance of getting your messages across and building new business. Remember that a travel exhibition, whether for the travel industry or the public, is for a limited time only and you must spend your time as effectively as possible. Spending time with visitors who have little interest in your organisation is a waste of time and energy. However, it must be remembered that a tour operator which does not at present sell your destination may well be persuaded to in the future.

COOPERATIVE PARTICIPATION
For some exhibitors at travel and tourism shows, having a stand of their own is the most natural way to participate, while othersmay find it more desirable or cost effective to share stand space with others. If, for example, you have hotels in a particular country or your airline flies to a certain destination, you may want to consider sharing space with that countrys National Tourism Organisation. If the company, organisation or service you represent is not particularly well known in the marketplace, joining forces with other exhibitors to share a stand might be a good way to draw attention to yourselves. On the other hand, if your organisation is already well established in the market, it might be more advantageous to have your own stand, rather than be lost in the crowd of a shared stand. When choosing partners to share a stand with, consider the following:

What profit, if any, is to be gained by joining up with other exhibitors rather than going it alone? Would other exhibitors on your stand strengthen your profile and message to your target audience? Would your product/service/destination be complemented by other exhibitors? Would other participants presence be helpful in making your product more accessible to your target markets?

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CHAPTER 3

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he process of selecting travel and tourism exhibitions suitable for your purposes depends, of course, on which markets you are most interested in reaching.

Travel and tourism shows tend to split into two groups; those aimed at the travel industry itself with the target audience being tour operators and travel agents and those shows aimed primarily at the travel-buying public. Your decision on where to exhibit should, therefore, be made only after careful examination of the event, the audience it is likely to attract, its timing and location and the cost, not only of exhibiting but also of attending the exhibition, including transport, hotel rooms, meals etc. The following plan can be followed to select the right event:

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SHOW

Identify the likely contenders. There are numerous travel and tourism-related exhibitions throughout the world, some globally-known names such as World Travel Market, FITUR and ITB Berlin, others serving a more local market, such as those staged by certain US States and by specific regions in Europe. Compile as much information on the show from organisers as you can, particularly attendance figures and a breakdown of the kind of visitors it is likely to attract. Study, too, the exhibitions terms of reference, find out what, if any, trade body or publications sponsorships it has. Assess the cost implications. What is included in the price quoted by the organisers? How much is being charged for additional but essential services, such as power and water? Find out, too, what it will cost you for travel and accommodation to staff your exhibition stand and entertain potential and existing clients. Talk to previous exhibitors and visitors to gain their assessment of the shows value. Visit the event to experience it from a visitors viewpoint. Look at the added value offered by the organisers and what they doing to match sellers and buyers. Weigh all information carefully before making a decision whether or not to exhibit. Do not be pressured by the organisers.

All the information you collect will enable you to cut out those exhibitions which simply do not match your marketing objectives or your budget. Similarly, timing of the individual events, the size and importance of their venues and their geographical catchment area will all help you reach a decision. If by now you have convinced yourself of the potential benefits of becoming an exhibitor, remember this: From now on you will be taking decisions which lead to commitments and those commitments will have to be paid for. Be certain, therefore, that you conduct your preliminary investigations carefully, ask the right questions and check the answers before finally giving the go-ahead.

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CASE STUDY 3
When choosing an exhibition it is important to make sure you can maximise the costs involved and therefore that the event can offer you the right customers and potential business leads. You need a show that will allow you to meet your specific market and provide a platform that will be interested in your new products and features. TTG Incontri allows us to get in touch with a great number of travel agencies at the right time to set programmes for the year ahead. So timing is also important. The team at TTG Incontri work hard to match buyers and sellers and it is important to look at what a show organiser is doing to attract the right visitors and exhibitors to make the event worthwhile. Marco DIlario, Vice President Sales, Italy Alitalia North West

CHAPTER 4

PLANNING

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investment at a travel exhibition. It is possible, however, to offer some guidelines by which realistic budgets can be drawn and expenditure controlled. The budget must be as detailed as possible, leaving no doubt as to disbursement of funds. This will simplify the task of checking the items after the exhibition is over. Exhibition costs break down into six main groupings: 1. Space Rental There are two basic stand choices at most travel and tourism exhibitions, the shell-scheme stand which is provided by the organiser or the space-only stand, for which you rent floor space and arrange your own stand design and construction. Space with shell generally costs 10-15% more than space-only. One trap which many exhibitors taking the space-only or free-build option fall into is to book a stand site without any real appreciation of how much it will cost them to fill it. For space-only stands, the cost of the space represents, on average, only 20-25% of the total stand cost. The stand design and construction can account for a hefty 40-50% of the exhibition budget and sometimes more. 2. Stand Design, Construction, Fitting and Display. This will be the biggest item in your budget and the most difficult to calculate in advance. Basically what you have to allow for here are fees of a stand designer. To give some practical guidance, you should plan, at the very least, to double your space costs for design and construction. Also remember to add in costs for hiring furniture and other items necessary for display purposes, such as brochure racks, shelving, flowers/plants etc. 3. Electrical and other Stand Services Take into account here stand lighting and power points for displays, computers, office machines and catering equipment. 4. Transport, Storage and Handling of Exhibits. Although at travel and tourism exhibitions you are unlikely to have actual products on your stand, you do need to allow for the cost of packing, delivering, insuring and returning any promotional material or equipment you may be using, such as computers or video machines. 5. Staffing Costs, Accommodation and Entertaining. Whether you take the costs of manning your exhibition booth into your exhibition budget or not may be a matter of company custom and practice. For a truly realistic evaluation they should, however, be calculated. The costs of travel, hotel accommodation, meals and entertaining customers by your own staff must be allowed for. If you need hired hostesses, receptionists, interpreters and the like, you should also budget for them. Give some thought, too, to whether or not you want to provide catering, refreshments and drinks on your stand and whether you will have to buy these from the official caterers appointed by the venue or whether you can take them with you. Take into account, also, any entrance tickets, passes and carparking costs for staff and any customers you may want to invite and add the cost of office equipment, telephones, computer lines, stationary and other incidentals. Finally, if there are going to be related conferences or seminars in which you may want to participate, allow for those extra costs as well.

lanning is essential to protect your investment in travel exhibitions, it is key to getting the best possible return, to ensure smooth and stress-free exhibiting, project a cohesive, positive and memorable message and improve your participation the next time around.

Planning for an exhibition should be thorough enough that no surprises crop up during the actual exhibition, the time when all your efforts should be directed towards sales work.

THE EXHIBITION COORDINATOR


Important decisions must be made about a number of aspects. It is important that you appoint an exhibition coordinator who has complete responsibility for the exhibition well ahead of time. Pre-show coordination and stand preparation should be the coordinators responsibility. He or she should also deal with all progress payments and be responsible for budgetary control. Make sure, therefore, that a person with sufficient authority is appointed to this important role, that they are appointed early enough and that his/her function is clearly communicated to everyone concerned. It is the job of the coordinator to take a complete overview of the exhibition, to ensure that the effort stems from clearly defined objectives and that everyone is working towards common goals. The coordinator, therefore, should be briefed and thoroughly understand your organisations objectives as an exhibitor. It is the coordinators job to ensure that things are done on time and within budget. With so much to oversee, it is important that the exhibition coordinator takes a systematic approach to planning. The following guidelines should ensure that he/she carries out the essential tasks effectively and with the specified deadlines:

Read the manual. The manual is your exhibition Bible. It contains all the information you need to ensure a successful event. Consult widely and early those that may affect or be affected by your participation, before it is too late to change things without considerable effort or cost. Draw up an exhibition timetable highlighting key tasks and deadline dates, indicating who is responsible for each individual task, the date by which action is required and the actual date by which the task should be completed. Establish responsibilities and clear lines of communication. Chase up everyone relentlessly to ensure everything is completed on time.

THE BUDGET
With the decision made to exhibit and the choice of the event narrowed down, the next step is to establish a budget. You need to reassess the value of the market covered by the travel or tourism show and your forecast of the sales and marketing benefits you can reasonably expect to achieve. Draw up a target-orientated budget and create it based upon the activities you plan to get engaged in. The key to cost-effective exhibiting is to spend as much as is required to achieve your objectives and no more. Unfortunately there is no magic formula for determining exactly how much money is required to ensure that optimum return on

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6. Exhibition-related Promotional Activity This will be particularly relevant for travel and tourism shows aimed primarily at the public rather than the trade, though at trade-only shows you may want to consider poster sites, advertising in official catalogues or trade press and other advertising within the venue to attract attention to your stand.

CHAPTER 5

These six groupings are the building blocks from which you will be able to construct your exhibition budget. Working from them on a given size of space, at a level of style and presentation appropriate to your organisation and its products or services, you are going to come up with a very realistic estimate of what your costs are going to be. Recent statistics from AUMA, The Association of The German Trade Fair Industry, gives the following breakdown of costs, against which it may be useful to check your own figures: Stand design, construction/dismantling, decoration39%

Stand rental, power supply, car parking20%

Personnel costs, travel costs, hospitality outside stand21% Stand service and communications, i.e. hostesses, hospitality for visitors, gifts, free entry, press folders12%

GETTING THE STAND RIGHT

Other costs, i.e. preparation and follow up, training, research5%

Additional costs, i.e. transport and waste disposal3%

(Statistics as of March 2004) Via various surveys, AUMA has estimated the average costs of trade fair participation. According to these estimates, at international trade fairs in Germany, the average value of the total costs per square metre of stand space ranges between 750 and 950 Euro. These figures do however only provide a rough guide, the actual costs can vary considerably. On the AUMA website, www.auma.de you will find a useful Trade Fair Benefits Check that you can download free of charge.

CASE STUDY 4
Planning is vital to our department. The events team of VisitScotland organises a variety of different types of event from exhibition trade stands around the world to product launches to award programmes. Clear and timely organisation is the key: we have a team of ten staff and every event has at least one event co-ordinator managing delivery. Typically an exhibition requires co-ordination between the organiser of the show, any contractor used to build the stand, the VisitScotland marketing team responsible for the market in which the event is taking place, and Scottish suppliers with whom we offer the opportunity to exhibit under the Scotland banner. To achieve this, we have to communicate information carefully and in good time to ensure that everyone involved in each event is fully aware of every detail. A large section of our programme involves annual established events, which means that the planning of each begins even before the previous years event ends. This long term planning means that we can then factor in additional events to the programme. Ben MacCorquodale VisitScotland

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he possibilities are almost endless when it comes to designing your stand and should reflect the main purpose you have identified for taking part in the show in the first place, which people you want to meet and how work is to be carried out on the stand itself.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


At many travel shows exhibition areas are divided either geographically or according to the area of trade in which organisations operate so check which is most appropriate for you. A few guidelines when choosing the stand location:

Your stand must make a strong visual impact and convey at a glace who you are and what you have to offer. It must provide an effective showcase for your product or services and an efficient platform for sales meetings and other discussion.

Look for those located within the busiest areas of the hall, but traffic flow is not the only consideration. Take into account the location of your competitors stands, location of service and access points, the relative merits of exhibiting in the general show area or a specific geographic or product-related area. A stand located opposite an entrance is obviously a prime spot but once an organisation has an entrance site it is not likely to give it up easily. Sites located next to a staircase or escalators between halls and levels are good, as are those on the main gangways. Feature areas, seminar locations and other busy parts of an exhibition venue act as a draw for visitors and these are often in outlying halls, at the rear of a hall or on a gallery to ensure that attendees visit all parts of the exhibition. Visitors are likely to need refreshments at some point. One good option is to be situated on the way to bars and snack bars, but not directly opposite them. Depending on the exhibition, you may be given a choice of exhibiting in the general hub of the show or within a dedicated product or service area. You should try to secure a stand on the outside edge of the feature. Consider also the location of your competitors stands. You may want to look at taking a stand alongside a company or organisation whose products or services compliment your own.

TYPE OF STAND
For organisations exhibiting for the first time, or for those with a limited amount of time and money to devote to their exhibition effort, the shell-scheme option has a lot to recommend it. Not only is it a reasonable way to present your products and services but it also makes it much easier to control your costs and minimizes the amount of time you need to spend at the venue during build-up and breakdown of the exhibition. Shell scheme is a basic stand framework or shell erected by the organisers appointed contractor on your behalf. This scheme will often include your fascia board signage and carpet. Some organisers will also offer packages which are inclusive of furniture and electrical requirements. It is usually of a standard format throughout an exhibition, although contrasting colours may be used to denote different areas of the show. Space only is exactly what the name suggests - an empty space on the exhibition floor which you can fill in any way you choose, subject, of course, to meeting the regulations laid down by the organiser and the venue.

You can tailor your stand to meet your specific exhibition objectives, while the only limits on creativity are those of the designer you employ. The downside is the cost, although the increasing quality, choice and availability of modular stand systems are helping to bring down prices. Consider too, whether you are likely to use the same display at another travel exhibition or, indeed, in a modified form at the same exhibition next year. If so, it may be worth while having your own exhibit constructed. If you are building your own stand you should ensure it has a minimum life expectancy of three years and is adaptable to attending other exhibitions in order to gain maximum benefit from the investment.

STAND DESIGN AND LAYOUT


Before you can start to consider what your stand might look like, you need to be clear in your mind exactly what you want it to do for you. Having considered the logistical aspects, think about the image you want to put across. Think, too, about the specific messages you want to communicate. Finally, remember that the exhibition stand is there primarily to promote your organisation, products and/or services, not to reflect the particular ideas of your designer. You know what you want to sell he does not. There are two aspects of stand layout you need to consider: 1. The extent to which it will attract or deter visitors. 2. Its function as a stage on which you can effectively pursue your exhibition objectives once those visitors come aboard. Give careful thought to whether you want to reach a small group or a large one. Do you want to get your organisation better known to all visitors or just those in carefully-targeted groups ? If it is the former, go for an open stand which is as eye-catching and welcoming as possible. If the latter, an enclosed stand with areas for serious business meetings may be more appropriate.

STAND SIZE
The golden rule on stand size is to consider only your needs, not the needs of your competitors. Take as much space as is necessary to achieve your objectives and no more. This way you will save unnecessary expenditure and avoid what is, perhaps, the worst error at an exhibition; taking a stand which is too big for you and having nothing to fill it with.

STAND LOCATION
The location of the stand within the exhibition complex is important, though with many well-established travel and tourism shows you may not have much option. Ensure above all that you have a stand of the right size, properly equipped, containing the right exhibits and staffed by knowledgeable and well-prepared personnel empowered to negotiate on behalf of your organisation.

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A number of organisations exhibiting at the bigger travel shows successfully combine both with, perhaps, an open area at the front of the stand and an enclosed area at the back or on the top deck of a two-level stand.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


The following points should be covered in the brief:

Exhibition objectives. Size and position of your selected site. Materials, products or services to be exhibited. Specific stand facilities needed. Visual and graphic requirements. Exhibition rules and regulations. Schedule of critical dates/deadlines. Background information. Budget. Design requirements.

STAND GRAPHICS
Stand graphics have a crucial role to play in both attracting and retaining visitor attention. To be effective they must make a strong visual impact. Simplicity is the key to success, combined with the following guidelines: 1. Say what you do. 2. Keep the messages brief. 3. Promote benefits not features. 4. Ensure the messages can be read easily. 5. If you are showing something new, say so.

CASE STUDY 5
Planning the design of your stand is vital to ensure that it works for your organisation and incorporates all your needs and requirements, take into consideration whether you want an open plan stand that people may wander on to, or a closed unit almost by invitation only. We assign one person as stand manager to oversee the daily operations and ensure the smooth running throughout the duration of the show. Best Western International

CHOOSING, BRIEFING AND APPOINTING A STAND DESIGNER/CONTRACTOR


When you and your colleagues have agreed on final stand designs you will need to obtain price quotations for stand construction. If you are exhibiting on a space-only site, there are two routes you can take to get your stand professionally designed and built: 1. Go to an independent designer. 2. Approach a stand contractor directly these are the companies responsible for building and fitting exhibition stands and for erecting and dismantling them at the show. Going straight to a stand contractor is likely to be a more economic solution for exhibitors on limited budgets as many contractors include free design consultancy as part of the overall stand package. If you are exhibiting on a shell-scheme stand you do not have to worry about the construction of your stand, as this will be handled by the official shell-scheme contractor. However, you are responsible for organising the interior layout and will need professional help with the design and production of graphics and display panels. Whether you work through a designer or directly, always get quotations from more than one contractor. The contractors from whom you obtain these quotations will be pricing the main stand construction and fitting. If your stand plans and specifications are sufficiently advanced, they will also include display and graphics, floor covering and furniture, etc. Briefing the designer/contractor is very important to ensure that you get the best solution for your exhibition needs and the best value for money. It is important to put your stand out to tender, ideally to three or four companies. For all projects, regardless of size or cost, you should draw up a detailed design brief. A written design brief is important for three reasons: 1. It forces you to give detailed thought to your stand requirements before any money is committed. 2. It gives the designer/contractor clear guidelines from which to work. 3. It provides a benchmark against which the design can be evaluated.

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CHAPTER 6

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


he reasons exhibitors offer for not promoting themselves are numerous but the one heard most often is: Its the organisers job to attract visitors. That is true up to a point.

If an exhibition organiser does its job properly, it will deliver thousands of potential customers to the exhibition halls. What it will not, and can not, do is persuade those buyers to visit your stand, rather than those of your competitors. That is your job and your organisation is the only one that stands to lose out if you do not do it. It is important to inform your target audience that you are exhibiting and about your profile at the show. You will also invite them to your stand, even set up specific appointments with them. The key to effective promotion is to match your promotional strategy to your exhibition objectives; to coordinate your activities carefully; to explore all available avenues for promotion before, during and after the event and to heed all deadlines.

PROMOTION

The opportunities open to promote your organisation are: Press Relations Editorial coverage in trade publications is one of the best free endorsements your organisation can achieve. Direct Mail This has a vital role to play both before and after the exhibition, particularly for public shows. Exhibition organisers will often supply you with free tickets to distribute to your chosen visitors. Advertising The more your organisations name is seen by buyers before, during and after the show, the more it will register with them. Advertising in the trade press, show previews, show daily newspapers and catalogue will help you stand out from the crowd and need not be expensive. Sponsorship The question of what to sponsor is once again directly linked with your objectives in taking part in the show. A variety of options are normally available, including the press centre, VIP lounge or overseas visitors lounge, carrier bags, posters and banners, courtesy coaches and airport welcome services, etc. Incentives These are an extremely useful weapon in the exhibitors armoury and can take a wide variety of forms from giveaways and competitions to special prices for travel products/services sold at public shows. If you decide to offer a gift of some kind, the following guidelines will help you make the most of the exercise: 1. Ensure the gift is appropriate to your organisations image. 2. Ensure the gift is appropriate to your target market. 3. The more useful the gift, the more it will be used. 4. If possible, make the gift relevant that way it will work harder for you.

5. Think ahead. Special Promoting Dont forget to work with the organisers directly; they may be undertaking a special promotion and ask to involve you, or if you have an idea or objective yourself, then by working together new initiatives can be developed that could help you stand out from the crowd.

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Catalogue Exhibition catalogues are produced for all exhibitions to provide visitors with a complete list of who is present, what they are showing and where they can be found. As long as you are aware of what opportunities are available, now often online, and how to make the most of them, you can pick those that will best enable you to meet your set objectives. If your time and/or resources are limited, concentrate on these core activities: 1. Preparing your press releases and submitting them in good time to the show organiser and the trade press. 2. Preparing your catalogue entry and submitting it in good time. 3. Contacting your customer in advance to notify them of your attendance. Include a complimentary ticket, if needed, and if possible offer them some kind of incentive to visit your stand. As with any kind of promotional activity, it is not what you do that is important so much as how well you do it.

CHAPTER 7

CASE STUDY 6
Our most successful customers are the ones that have been able to combine the marketing strategy of their company (brochures, posters, press releases, special events) with the available tools offered by the organisers. For our exhibitors, booking signals the start of a major promotional drive, combining a number of marketing activities and culminating in a high-profile presence at the exhibition. In a competitive market, exhibitions offer a huge variety of options for participants to stand out and build awareness; be it an exceptionally well-designed stand, seminars that push key messages or sponsored banners and advertisements that draw the visitors eye and increase traffic. And the effects last for much longer than the exhibition itself - press comment, post show reports and reviews for example, which can help generate business for years to come. Exhibitors can be hesitant when it comes to asking for advice, but our most savvy clients work with us to achieve their goals. Zeljka Tomljenovic ITE Travel Division

STAND STAFFING

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t is the ability of the staff on your stand to identify, communicate with and sell to your target audience that will ultimately determine how many genuine sales leads you record, how successfully your message is put across, how many contracts you negotiate or how much travel you sell. As time is short, it is important that everyone manning a stand has a clear objective and concentrates on your target group.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


The stand must be manned at all times and must be kept tidy. If a potential customer appears while you are occupied, fix a time for a meeting. Research shows that 60% of prospects move away, if the stand staff do not make contact within one minute !

CASE STUDY 7
Staff at the stand must represent the companys profile and be well informed on all aspects of the business. This can only be achieved if they are fully informed about the companys aims at the exhibition. The staff should be chosen from the main companys employees and should be trained on exhibition marketing, social rules and cultural values. Especially at international exhibitions they must be able to deal with all types of visitors to the stand, being aware of their nationality and cultural values. The staff that welcome and inform the visitors must be smartly dressed, wearing a badge with their name and position clearly visible. Visitors should be attracted by the staff and be well informed with specific data about the company. It may be best to have a mixture of staff with different expertise to cover all enquiries. The number of the staff depends on the size of the stand. Chryssa Krassa Philoxenia

The number of staff required to man the stand depends upon the size of the stand, the number of leads anticipated and the facilities and activities on the stand. One salesperson can usually deal with about 30 visitors a day. If visitors stay on the stand between five and ten minutes, it is estimated a sales person can mange six to twelve visitors per hour. As a rule you should allow one staff member per 4-5 square metres of floor space, this being the space required to allow two people to conduct a conversation comfortably. Some travel exhibitions, however, limit the number of staff allowed on stands at any one time. One person should be in charge and in attendance at the show all the time. Pre-show coordination and stand preparation should also be his/her responsibility. The stand manager should also deal with progress payments and be responsible for budgetary control. Make sure, therefore, that he/she is a person with enough authority, is appointed and briefed early enough and his/her function is made known to all concerned. Amongst the most important qualities required by stand managers are tact and diplomacy. These will be necessary to get the full and continuing cooperation of the stand team in an environment that can place unusual demands on their strength and patience. When choosing the precise makeup of the exhibition team you need to make sure that all activities on your stand are adequately catered for and that staff with the appropriate skills are appointed to tasks of sales, promotion, administration and hospitality. The basic requirement for exhibition stand staff is that they are friendly, approachable and well informed on your organisation, its products and services. Think in terms of front line and rearguard stand staff when choosing the team. In the front line, doing the job of greeting and qualifying customers, you should place those able to open conversations, put visitors at ease and establish their needs. Having qualified the visitors, they can pass them on to the rearguard of sales people specialising in specific areas or subjects. In the case of travel trade shows, of course, it is likely that individual sales people will have made prior arrangements to meet their contacts at the show. Staff training and briefing are essential to exhibition success, experience is invaluable at exhibitions and many organisations have a team of staff they draw on regularly. Effective sales training on how to encourage visitors onto your stand, how to open and close a conversation, how to qualify visitors and the impact of body language can have a dramatic effect on the performance of your staff. In addition to general exhibition sales training, it is vitally important that all stand staff are fully briefed before each event on what exactly they will be required to sell or communicate and to whom.

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CHAPTER 8

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


t is advisable to make time for extra pre-exhibition training. Selling and conducting yourself appropriately on the stand are not the same as in normal sales work. Working at an exhibition requires a different kind of discipline and a different way of acting. It also requires the ability to bring each aspect of business activity to a successful and proper close, be it a sale, quotation or renewed personal contact.

Knowledge and purposeful use of sales techniques are beneficial both for sales personnel and for those providing information. The essence of sales technique is firstly to arouse the interest of the prospects and discover his/her needs or problems. Then steer the conversation towards the way your products or services can solve these. Every person with whom you come in contact then receives individual attention depending on need. The following sales techniques are important: 1. Concentrate on people in your target markets.

WORKING THE EXHIBITION

2. Present briefly yourself and your product. 3. Chart the customers needs and desires. 4. Steer the conversation towards the customers needs and how your product/service satisfies these. 5. If you engage in direct sales at the exhibition, close the deal on the spot if possible. 6. In all cases, make a note of the persons name etc. and follow up after the exhibition, giving additional information and/or making your offer.

RECORDING VISITOR INFORMATION


The visitor information you capture at exhibitions and the way it is recorded, will have a direct effect on the speed and efficiency with which you follow up your leads. Collecting business cards alone is not an efficient way to compile visitor information. Even if you do scribble action points on the back, there will not be room to remember the contact in sufficient detail. Thus, everyone calling at the stand who is interested in your product should be recorded, with full name, company name, address, telephone number, email and web address, including details about the visitors fields of interest. To increase the speed with which visitor information can be captured, some organisers offer their exhibitors the use of electronic lead recording systems at selected events. The light pen and bar code is the best-known electronic lead recording system. The exhibitor simply runs the light pen across the bar code on the visitors badge to capture his or her details. A more advanced system combines the advantages of automatic information capture with the ability to custom-qualify leads and produce an immediate print-out of each enquiry on the stand, instead of having to wait until the end of each day.

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CASE STUDY 8
It is important to find an efficient way to promote your products in the 3 or 4 days during an exhibition. First of all, at least three weeks before the exhibition, do not forget to visit the web page of the exhibition to find the contact details for the other exhibitors who would like to meet. Try to get an appointment beforehand. This is the best way to meet the right people during the exhibition. Otherwise everybody will be too busy to meet and make efficient meetings. If it is possible and your stand is big enough, it would be a good idea to set a closed meeting room in order to provide a peaceful environment within the exhibition centre. At least two or three representatives should remain on your stand, one could follow up the schedule that you fixed before the exhibition; others can meet the visitors at your stand. It is a good idea to ensure you have a notebook and stapler with you in order to staple the business cards you collect. You can use one page for each business card and put notes at the bottom in order to remember what you talked about after the exhibition. It is very important to keep in touch with them regarding your notes as soon as you can after the exhibition. It is best to provide two kinds of promotional materials. One type for the tourism professionals which is better if you make it smart and include all the information about your products, and one for the public visitors including only the information needed for the public visitors. This way you can save your main materials for tourism professionals. If you put a basket or similar on the front desk of your stand and announce a prize draw related to your products you will be able to collect many business cards. You could also produce some traditional items with your logo, telephone, e-mail address and website printed on, such as pens, notebooks, useful items for the show and give these to the tourism professionals to remind them of the contact they made with you.

CHAPTER 9

FOLLOW UP

Hacer Aydn EMITT Exhibition Director

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he period after the exhibition is harvest time the most important phase of the whole exhibition project. In order to achieve maximum results in connection with the exhibition, you have to be quick to follow up contacts made during the show. At the same time you have to be consistent and methodical in your approach.

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


Measuring results is one thing, analyzing those results and pinpointing the causes of success or failure with the aim of improving things next time around is quite another.

EXHIBITION REPORT
If your organisation is to profit by the experiences gained from taking part in a travel and tourism exhibition, all data from your participation must be gathered and recorded in an exhibition report. This report can also be used to explain the exhibition medium to others in the organisation and to make known the objectives and results of your exhibition participation. In addition the report is an excellent aid to new employees participating in an exhibition for the first time.

Four steps to an effective follow-up: 1. Prioritise leads according to urgency. 2. Follow up leads immediately. 3. Pursue leads on an ongoing basis. 4. Track leads to provide some measure of return on investment.

BUDGET CONTROL
Control of the budget is essential to the general control of the organisations cash flow but it is also important for planning. The exhibition budget should be studied in isolation in order to allow critical examination of all the items.

CASE STUDY 9
An immediate post-exhibition meeting is vital to discuss the good and bad parts, what worked, what didn't work and more importantly note down changes or plans for next time you will not remember everything. A full report should be put together with a list of action points. When assessing the success of the event, do not forget to look at any press coverage generated at home and in the country of the event, as well as information gathered and not just sales leads. The Vakantiebeurs PR team are supportive with show coverage and post-show reports. It is important to contact all those you met at the show as soon as possible, noting what further action needs to be taken with each contact. As organisers, we also look at what can be done to improve for the following year. Dagmar Ypenberg-Moonen, Project Manager, Vakantiebeurs

MEASURING EXHIBITION EFFECTIVENESS


When measuring the effectiveness of exhibition participation there are two areas you need to look at. Firstly, the extent to which you achieved your specific objectives and secondly, the extent to which the exercise proved cost-effective. The following methods of measuring results are possible: 1. Calculate the Value of Sales Achieved. This is a straightforward process, although it is less simple if you are exhibiting to generate sales leads. Even with the most sophisticated tracking systems it is, unfortunately, difficult to get a precise figure on the return on your investment, as some sales are always going to be difficult to attribute. Therefore, you should not rely solely on sales achieved as a means of measuring the effectiveness of a particular travel exhibition, but combine it with other methods and build up a more rounded picture. 2. Count the Number of Qualified Leads The total number of leads taken will give you important information on the comparative efficiency of exhibitions and the effectiveness of your own efforts. 3. Establish the Cost-per-useful-Contact To do this divide the total cost of exhibiting ( including indirect costs) by the number of leads generated. The average cost-peruseful-contact in the UK, for example, is about 48. 4. Count the Number of New Contacts Made 5. Survey Levels of Awareness Before and/or After the Show Measure visitor awareness on a pre and post show basis. 6. Count the Number of Brochures/Leaflets/Other Promotional Material Distributed 7. Measure and Evaluate Media Coverage Generated. 8. Record and Assess the Value of Information/Market Intelligence Received. 9. Consider any other Benefits that may have accrued.

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CHAPTER 10

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


hen we look back at the history of communications today, we find the fax machine is now looking out-dated and the telex merely a vague memory. But whatever new advances might be on the horizon, we can be fairly certain that the Internet is here to stay and that it will continue to have more and more influence on how we do business.

Exhibitions are no exception, and you can harness websites, e-mail and related technology such as webcasting to make your participation more effective. Some people believe that the age of the virtual exhibition is getting closer, but even if this happens it will never take away the need for people to meet face-to-face. Event organisers have made life easier by registering visitors on-line, with World Travel Market in London one of those leading the way. In 2010, there were 74,901 on-line registrations, an amazing 93% of the total registrations for WTM, compared to 72% in 2003 and hardly any online registration in 2002. Other benefits include online appointment setting, ordering exhibitor badges, entering catalogue data and submitting press releases, to name just a few. Webcasting filming something and then broadcasting it over the Internet could motivate people living reasonably near the exhibition to visit. But it could also allow non-visitors to keep in touch. While events organisers are now very focused on e-mail for instant communications with exhibitors and visitors either around the world or around the corner, there are also many ways for exhibitors to use e-mail to their advantage. The most obvious is to e-mail visitors advising them of your participation and inviting them to visit the stand or make an appointment. Reminders can then be sent as the dates draw near, but with so many thousands of e-mails flooding in-boxes, it would be a mistake to overlook voice contact or not to also send an invitation by post. Exhibitors can promote themselves on-line and organise most aspects of their participation including catalogue entry, badges and registering companies sharing their stand. Some exhibition organisers have different views, but in general it would be a good idea to hyper-link your own website to that of the organiser so that potential customers can find out more about you before visiting a show. Exhibition organisers now send virtual stand layouts by email and this will allow you to make any changes immediately and to plan for the decoration of the stand more easily. Everyone, exhibitors as well as organisers, need to update their websites on a regular basis rather than release information only a few days before an event. Nothing is more annoying than finding obsolete information on a so-called instant electronic medium, and this may discourage people from visiting your website again. Operating a successful and up-to-date website demands significant investment in technology and people, but the benefits are many. Here are a few things to remember, to get the best out of the Internet when planning your participation at an exhibition:

TECHNOLOGY

Encourage clients attending the show to register online, saving them time and possibly entrance fees. Send a standard message to business partners about where to find your stand and what they will achieve by visiting you. Follow-up, as necessary, with e-mails that are more personalised. Make the content of your e-mail absolutely clear in the subject line, and the message brief. Do not send unsolicited e-mails but only to people on your contacts list.

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Mention the exhibition on your own website, and include a link to the exhibitions website from your page. After the show, use e-mail to keep in touch with new contacts but make sure all such communications are as personal as possible. A more personal approach is necessary if you want to do business with buyers after a show. Dont forget to update your email contacts list as addresses can change, so check all the business card details against your database. If there is nothing specific to discuss with a new contact, then the follow-up e-mail can simply thank them for visiting your stand and invite them to look at your website.

The virtual exhibition would supplement but never replace the real or on-ground event. Software may be developed allowing a virtual visitor to speak to someone on an exhibition stand via a webcast, through a secure and private link. That would vastly increase the number of visitors you might expect, but as with all new technology there is a down-side. You may need more technical people to make it possible and will certainly need more people to talk to these visitors, but advances in communications will never cease. Dont forget that when you are planning your attendance at an ITTFA exhibition the first place you should look for information is the exhibitions own web site. Links to all ITTFA members can be found on our site www.ittfa.org

Calendar of Travel and Tourism Fairs

CASE STUDY 10
Switzerland Tourism aims to offer a high calibre of technical assistance for both its partners and customers. Our use of the most up-to-date technology helps to co-ordinate our presence at all major travel exhibitions. From specified online calendar software to aid in forward planning, to online information (public and trade), as well as online invoicing and registration. This enables all partners participating in our public/trade fairs to immediately view timescales, complete registrations on time and follow any transactions and directions through to the final stages. Along with the latest visual digital stills and moving image facilities on our stands, our Internet presence is a major marketing focus and our view is such that we strive to make the most of our technical capabilities to simplify previous procedures and enhance customer experience of our country. Switzerland Tourism www.MySwitzerland.com

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JANUARY
Vakanz Luxembourg www.fil.lu Boot Dusseldorf, Germany www.boot-online.de CMT Stuttgart, Germany www.messe-stuttgart.de/cmt FESPO Holidays, Sports & Leisure Zurich, Switzerland www.fespo.ch Ferie Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark www.ferie09.dk Holiday & Travel Show Manchester, England www.holidayshows.com Holiday World Dublin, Ireland www.holidayworldshow.com Holiday World Belfast, Ireland www.holidayworldshow.com Salon du Tourisme & Vacances Rennes, France www.safym.com Salon du Tourisme Lille & Marseille, France www.salonmahana.com FITUR Madrid, Spain www.fitur.ifema.es Tourist Linz, Austria www.messe-tourist.at The Daily Telegraph Holiday & Travel Show Manchester, England www. holidayshows.com/visitmanchester

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


International Tourist Fair Holiday and Spa Sofia, Bulgaria www.holidayfair-sofia.com Daily Telegraph Holiday & Travel Show Glasgow, Scotland www.holidayshows.com Ferie i Bella Copenhagen, Denmark www.ferieibella.dk Ferie for alle Herning, Denmark www.ferieforalle.dk BTL Feira Internacional de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal www.fil.pt 4th Routes Regional Americas Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic www..routesonline.com/events AIME Melbourne, Australia, www.aime.com.au BALTTOUR Riga, Latvia www.alta.net.lv Basel Holiday Fair Basel, Switzerland www.baslerferienmesse.ch BIT Milan Milan, Italy www.expocts.it/bit TOUREST Tallinn, Estonia www.etfl.ee Salon Bedouk Paris, France www.salonbedouk.com Salon Des Vacances Brussels, Belgium www.vosvacances.be The New York Times Travel Show New York, USA www.nyttravelshow.com Business Travel & Meetings Show London, England www.businesstravelshow.com Ideas Vacances Charleroi, Belgium www.charleroiexpo.be Reisen Hamburg Hamburg, Germany www.hamburg-messe.de/reisen FERIENmesse Saint Gallen, Switzerland www.olma-messen.ch

SATTE South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange New Delhi, India www.satte.org

TIP Alpe-Adria Tourism & Leisure Show Ljubljana, Slovenia www.alpeadria-tip.si GO Brno, Czech Republic www.bvv.cz/go REISELIV Lillestrom, Norway www.messe.no/reiseliv

EMITT Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey www.emittistanbul.com Mahana Lyon, France www.salonmahana.com TTF & OTM New Delhi and Mumbai New Delhi and Mumbai www.ttfpotm.com TVC Feria Internacional Turismo Comunidad Valenciana Valencai, Spain www.tvc.fericavalencia.com VIVATTUR Vilnius, Lithuania www. visusplenus.lt/en/vivattur F.RE.E Fair for Leisure & Travel Munich, Germany www. free-muenchen.de IMTM Tel Aviv, Israel www.ortra.com/imtm

Vakantiebeurs Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands www.vakantiebeurs.nl TTF Chennai Chennai, India www.ttfotm.com TTF Bangalore Bangalore, India www.ttfotm.com Ecorismo Nantes, France www.ecorismo.com Le Salon des Vacances, Sports & Loisirs Geneva, Switzerland www.vacances.ch Salon International des Vacances Antwerp, Belgium www.vakantiesalonantwerpen.be FERIENmesse Vienna, Austria www.messe.at

MARCH

TUR Goteborg Gothenburg, Sweden www.tur.se

MITT Moscow Moscow, Russia www.mitt-moscow.com

MATKA Helsinki Helsinki, Finland www.finnexpo.fi

FEBRUARY

UITT Kiev, Ukraine www.uitt-kiev.com UTAZAS Budapest, Hungary www.utazas.hungexpo.hu CONFEX London, England www.international-confex.com ITM Intour Market Moscow, Russia www.itmexpo.ru

ITF SlovakiaTour Bratislava, Slovakia www.incheba.sk FERIEN Berne, Switzerland www.ferienmesse.ch

Holiday World Prague, Czech Republic www.holidayworld.cz Times Destinations Holiday & Travel Show London, England www.destinationshow.com FERIENmesse Graz, Austria www.messe-graz.at

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Los Angeles Times Travel Show New York, USA www.events.latimes.com/travel show MAP Le Monde a Paris Paris, France www.lemondeaparis.com Times Destinations Holiday & Travel Show Birmingham, England www.destinationsshow.com/ birmingham 9th Routes Regional Asia Incheon, Korea www. routesonline.com/events/132 Adventures in Travel Expo Washington, USA www.adventureexpo.com GIBTM Abu Dhabi, UAE www.gibtm.com ITB Berlin, Germany www.fair.itb-berlin.de FREIZEIT Garten und Touristik Nuernberg, Germany www.freizeitmesse-nuernberg.de Reise & Camping Essen, Germany www.reise-camping.de Salon Des Vacances Brussels, Belgium www.vosvacances.be Holiday & Travel Expo Sydney, Australia www.travelexpo.com.au Holiday & Travel Expo Melbourne, Australia www.travelexpo.com.au India Travel Mart Pune, India www.indiatravelmart.com ASTA International Destination Expo San Juan, Puerto Rico www.Asta.org

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


MAY
IMEX Frankfurt, Germany www.imex-frankfurt.com World Tourism Fair Shanghai, China www.worldtravelfair.com.cn Rendezvous Quebec City, Canada www.rvc.travel MITF Moscow, Russia www.mitf.ru ATM - Arabian Travel Market Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.arabiantravelmarket.co.uk 6th Routes Regional Europe Cagliari, Italy www.routesonline.com FIT Havana, Cuba www.fitcuba.com Marche Mediterranean International du Tourism Tunis, Tunisia www.mit-med.com.tn Fiera Campionaria Cagliari, Italy www.fieradellasardegna.it/ly Pow Wow San Francisco, USA www.ustravel.org

JULY

AITF Baku, Azerbaijan www.aitf.az SITC Barcelona, Spain www.saloturisme.com Tourism, Leisure, Hotels Chisinau, Moldova www. en.tourism.moldexpo.md

TTF Hyderabad Hyderabad, India www.ttfotm.com TTF Calcutta Calcutta, India www.ttfotm.com

AUGUST
TTF Surat Surat, India www.ttfotm.com

SEPTEMBER
IFTM Top Resa Paris, France www.iftm.fr FITA Mexico City, Mexico www.fita.mx No Frills Travel & Technology Show Bergamo, Italy www.nofrillsexpo.com TT Warsaw, Poland www.ttwarsaw.pl Astana Leisure Moscow, Russia www.tourismexpo.ru PATA Travel Mart New Delhi, India www.pata.org JATA World Travel Fair Tokyo, Japan www.jata-wtf.com CIBTM China Incentive Business Travel & Meeting Expo Beijing, China www.reedexhibitions.com AWTTE Arab World Travel & Tourism Exchange Beirut, Lebanon www.awtte.com La Cumbre Las Vegas, USA www.reedtravelexhibitions.com

TOURSIB The Siberian Fair Novosibirsk, Russia www.sibfair.ru

KITF Kazakhstan International Tourism & Travel Almaty, Kazakhstan www.ite.exhibitions.com COTTM China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market Beijing, China www.cottm.com Borsa Mediterranea del Turismo Naples, Italy www.bmtnapoli.com CROTOUR Zagreb, Croatia www.biztradeshows.com Expolevante Bari Bari, Italy www.fieradellevante.it Glob Katowice, Poland www.mtk.katowice.pl International Tourism Fair Bucharest, Romania www.romexpo.org CTF Caucasus Tourism Fair Tbilisi, Georgia www.expogeorgia.ge TWE Travel World Expo Kuwait City, Kuwait www.kif.net/events Business Travel Show Dusseldorf, Germany www.businesstravelshow.de

JUNE
Korea World Travel Fair Seoul, Korea www.kotfa.com ITE Hong Kong & ITE MICE Hong Kong, China www.itehk.com International Luxury Travel Mart Asia Shanghai, China www.iltm.net FI EXPO Punta Del Este, Uruguay www.fiexp-latam.com Euroal Torremolinos, Spain www.euroal.net

APRIL
Holiday & Travel Expo Brisbane, Australia www.travelexpo.com.au GTT Gdansk Tourism Fair Gdansk, Poland www. gtt.pl/ MITM Meetings & Incentive Travel Market Vigo, Spain www.mitmeuromed.com

OCTOBER

BTC International Rimini, Italy www.btc.it

TTG Incontri Rimini, Italy www.ttgitalia.com

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TTR Romanian Tourism Fair Bucharest, Romania www. targuldeturism.ro CIS Travel Market Saint Petersburg, Russia www.reedtravelexhibitions.com H-Show (Snow Show) Rendez-vous for Winter Sports Fans Budapest, Hungary www.hoshow.hu TTW Travel Trade Workshop Montreux, Switzerland www.ttw.ch Xenia Athens, Greece www.xenia.gr CITM Shanghai, China www.citm.com.cn INTUR Valladolid, Spain www.feriavalladolid.com Viva Touristika & Camping Frankfurt, Germany www.expotecgmbh.de Senioren Messe Vienna, Austria www.wiener-seniorenmesse.at PTM Peru Travel Mart Lima, Peru www.perutravelmart.com Zenith Salon Brussels, Belgium www.salonzenith.be

Ukraine International Travel Market Kiev, Ukraine www.autoexpo.com.ua

Akwaaba Lagos, Nigeria www.africantravelquarterly.com Tour Salon Poznan, Poland www.tour-salon.pl

ITTFA Members
Single Members Group Members Partners

NOVEMBER
MADI Travel Market Prague, Czech Republic www.madi.cz

Philoxenia Thessaloniki, Greece www.helexpo.gr World Travel Market London, England www.wtmlondon.com EIBTM Barcelona, Spain www.eibtm.com Ferien Messe Salzburg, Austria www.ferien-salzburg.at Regiontour Brno, Czech Republic www.bw.cz Touristik & Caravaning Leipzig, Germany www.tmsmessen.de

DECEMBER
International Luxury Travel Market Cannes, France www.iltm.net Travel Turkey Izmir, Turkey www.travelturkey-expo.com BTEXpo Brussels, Belgium www. Btexpo.com Luxury Travel Expo Las Vegas, USA www.luxurytravelexpowest.com

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EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY PHILOXENIA


Philoxenia is the International Tourism Exhibition of Greece, running for over 26 years and held each November in Thessaloniki, Greece. The exhibitors are Hotels, Travel agents, Rent-a-car companies, State Participations, Shipping companies, Specialised Press etc. Contact: Chryssa Krassa Helexpo SA 154 Egnatia Street 546 36 Thessaloniki Greece Tel: 30 2310 291 293 Fax: 30 2310 291 656 Email: philoxenia@helexpo.gr www.helexpo.gr

ITTFA Single Members


AKWAABA
AKWAABA; African Travel Market is the only international Travel Fair in West Africa, a population of 270 million people with 15 countries, numerous airports and the largest number of travellers in Africa. The event takes place every October in Lagos, Nigeria, running its 6th edition in 2010. Over the last 5 years Aftm has become the most important travel marketing platform in the region drawing attendance from over 20 countries, including 12 foreign Airlines and leading African hotel chains. Akwaaba has been designated by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) as the official travel exhibition in Nigeria. Contact: Ikechi Uko 31b, Olufemi Peters Ire Akari Estate Isolo, Lagos Nigeria Tel: 00234 803 305 6095 Email: akwaabatravelmarket@yahoo.com www.africantravelquarterly.com

SATTE
South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange
With 30 years experience in the communications business in the area of travel and tourism, we have been an active player not only in India but also in South Asia.SATTE enjoys the support of the government as well as the travel and tourism industry. Event management in the travel and tourism industry has been our core strength. Now in its 18th year, SATTE is the only event in South Asia that has an ongoing hospitality programme. 3,500 international tour operators have been hosted over the years, with the support of leading airlines and hospitality majors in the country. SATTE OPENWORLD, the biggest trade show in the South Asian region, sells Outbound, Inbound and Domestic, apart from niche segments like adventure, MICE and regional tourism. The event reflects the emergence of India as a growing travel and tourism player and recently joined in partnership with ITB Berlin. Contact: Navin Berry, Cross Section Publications Pvt Ltd Rajendra Bhawan, 3rd Floor, 210, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002. INDIA Tel: 91-11-4378 4444 Fax: 91-11-4100 1627 / 41001628 Email: info@satte.org Website: www.satte.org

IFT BELGRADE
International Fair of Tourism (IFT) takes place together with the Sailing Fair each April in three Belgrade Fair exhibiting halls, comprising a total area of 10,000 sq. m. The event is 60% oriented toward travel abroad, 20% local oriented toward sales in foreign markets and 20% local tourism offered to local buyers. 50 countries have their programs presented at the event. Recent special topics focused on at IFT are IT technology in tourism, software applications, booking systems, and Short Stay Holiday presentations European cities. There is also a special chapter intended for the promotion of hotel chains, since only Hyatt Regency, Intercontinental and Best Western, among international hotel chains, are present in Serbia and Montenegro. Contact: Nikola Andric IFT International Fair of Tourism Belgrade Fair, Bul. vojvode Misica 14 11000 Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro Tel: 381 11 2655 377 Fax: 381 11 2655 722 E-mail: nikola.andric@sajam.rs www.ift-belgrade.com

TIP Alpe-Adria
Tourism & Leisure Show
The Tourism and Leisure Show, which takes place annually at the end of January at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, hopes to achieve greater visibility of all it has to offer, segmented by individual product sectors as well as visitor expectations. This year it has expanded to include the whole Alpe-Adria region with the goal of becoming the central tourist event for the region. Contact: Martin Sabec GR, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre 18, Dunajska Street SI-1000 Ljubljana Slovenia Tel: +386 (0)1 300 26 20 Fax: +386 (0)1 300 26 59 E-mail: martin.sabec@gr-sejem.si www.alpeadria-tip.si www.alpeadria-tourismshow.com

MATKA
The Finnish International Travel Fair Matka is the largest travel fair in the Nordic countries when it comes to the amount of visitors. Matka is the place were travel industry professionals update their know-how and make contacts. It is also the place where active Finnish travellers get new ideas and make purchasing decisions. The exhibition currently covers approx. 12,000sq.m. Contact: Rilla Engblom The Finnish Fair Corporation PO Box 21 FIN 00521 Helsinki Finland Tel: 358 9150 91 Fax: 358 9142 358 Email: matka@finnexpo.fi www.matkamessut.fi

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EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY TUR


The annual TUR fairs are the leading travel and tourism fairs in Scandinavia. TUR is where the Scandinavian travel trade meets suppliers from some 100 countries, makes useful contacts and does important business. In addition, TUR is seen by the travel-interested people of western Sweden as a valuable source of information on travel, designation and related subjects. TUR is held in March every year. Contact: Mr Per Magnusson Swedish Exhibition Center S 41294 Gteborg Sweden Tel: 46 31 708 8000 Fax: 46 31 160 330 Email: tur@swefair.se www.tur.se

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY

ITTFA Group Members


ITE TRAVEL EXHIBITIONS MITT, UITT, EMITT, AITF, KITF, Toursib, Astana Leisure
Contact:Ms Maria Badakh ITE Exhibitions 105 Salusbury Road London, NW6 6RG Tel: 44 207 596 5000 Fax: 44 207 596 5102 Email:travel@ite-exhibitions.com www.travel-exhibitions.com

UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MARKET


The major Ukrainian exhibition for tourism, held by Minister of Tourism and Culture of Ukraine, State Service for Tourism and Resorts jointly with AUTOEXPO company, devoted to all kinds of tourism including business, incentive, outbound and inbound tourism, focusing on the promotion of different tourist destinations for Ukrainian customers and Ukrainian regions tourist potential popularisation among visitors to the country. The main participants are: state establishments for tourism and national tourism promotional boards of different countries, tourism organisations and associations, tour & travel companies, agencies, operators, hotels and resorts, tourism oriented mass media. The key event for Ukrainian tourism life, UKRAINE Travel Market traditionally serves as a meeting place for thousands of industry professionals all over the world. Contact: Alexandr Garashchenko Autoexpo, 29-A Elektrykiv Str. Kiev 04176 Tel: 38 044 351 7700 Fax: 38 044 351 7715 Email: office@autoexpo.ua www.ukraine-itm.com.ua

MITT
MITT is Russias largest and most important travel industry event and is held annually in March at the best exhibition venue in the centre of Moscow - Expocentr. The event is ranked amongst the top 5 worlds travel and tourism exhibitions. More than 3,000 exhibitors of which 1,700 are international are promoting their products and services to an attendance that exceeds 80,000 visitors. In 2010, MITT occupied 48,000 square meters of exhibition space, with 157 countries and regions participating and over 70 national/regional tourism boards .

UITT
Ukraines largest and most important travel industry event, UITT, the Ukraine International Travel and Tourism Exhibition takes place at the International Exhibition Centre, Kiev every March. It attracts key international travel industry players looking to promote their products and increase their presence in the Ukrainian market. Outbound tourism in Ukraine has been boosted by a recent growth in the economy. More and more Ukrainian travellers are getting a chance to discover new destinations and in 2009, almost 18 m people from Ukraine travelled abroad. Many established exhibitors are stepping up their marketing activities in Ukraine. In particular, UITT is attracting increased attention from long haul destinations, which reflects the growing number of Ukrainians travelling to exotic destinations. Many countries come to UITT in order to open up new international channels to increase the volume of tourism and investment. UITT can help to develop trade and tourism, and is an opportunity to exploit the presence of 750 exhibitors and exchange ideas and experiences. This is an opportunity to become part of a new niche market in a region that is demonstrating an increased interest and tendency to travel and discover new destinations.

VAKANTIEBEURS
The Vakantiebeurs is the leading event in the Benelux travel market. The 39th edition of the Vakantiebeurs brought together 18.000 tourism professionals and 1.600 exhibitors from over 160 countries Vakantiebeurs is the travel fair where your senses will be stimulated. You will hear, see, smell and experience a complete offer from more than 160 countries! Visiting the Vakantiebeurs is a colourful experience because of all the local people who will be present to give you personal advice and you will be able to taste colourful dishes, wines and beers from all over the world. Also, there will be colourful shows on all the stages during the entire trade day. Contact: Dagmar Ypenberg-Moonen Jaarbeursplein 6 3521 AL Utrecht The Netherlands Tel: 0031 30 295 2735 Fax: 0031 30 295 2708 E-mail: info@vakantiebeurs.nl Internet: www.vakantiebeurs-online (exhibitors, trade visitors)

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EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY INCHEBA PLC ITF Slovakiatour, Holiday World
Contact: Ernest Nagy Incheba Plc Viedenska cesta 3-7 851 01 Bratislava 5 Slovak Republic Tel: 421 2 67 27 2588 Fax: 421 2 67 27 2201 Email: enagy@incheba.sk slovakiatour@incheba.sk www.incheba.sk

EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY

Partners
ITTFA media partnerships include some of the leading travel trade publications across Europe and America. As Official Media Partners each of these publications actively supports the association and its goals by dedicating sections of their news pages to include exhibition industry comment and schedule special feature articles to coincide with our exhibitions. Whatever your strategy to promote your presence at ITTFA member events be it advertising, PR, promotions, incentives - these respected publications can play a vital role in meeting your business requirements in local, regional and global markets.

HOLIDAY WORLD
Holiday World is held each year in February in Prague and is Central Europes Premier Tourism Industry Event. The exhibition targets the leading economies in the region: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland. Exhibitors include tourism boards, travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, airlines and other transport companies, spas, business and congress tourism, trade fairs, reservations and information systems, educational bodies, publishers and insurance services.

Canadian Travel Press Editorial Contact: Bob Mowat 310 Dupont St Toronto, Ontario Canada M5R IV9 ++1 416 968 7252 bobmowat@baxter.net www.travelpress.com Travel Daily News International Greece & Cyprus Editorial Contact: Theodore Koumelis 50 Sfigos Str, GR-117 45 Athens Greece ++30 210 9374050 Theodore@traveldailynews.com www.traveldailynews.gr www.traveldailynews.com TravelMole Editorial Contact: Bev Fearis Viscount House The Street Cowfold, West Sussex Tel: 44 (0) 7977 504746 Email: bev.fearis@travelmole.com www.travelmole.com TravelTalk Media Editorial Contact: Patrick Peartree 2890 Hacienda St San Mateo, CA 9403 USA Tel: 001 650 315 2406 Email: patrick@traveltalkmedia.com www.traveltalkmedia.com TTG Czech Republic Editorial Contact: Naa Rybrov TTG CZECH 1. Distribun spolenost s.r.o. afakova 5 120 00 Praha 2 +420 222 515 012 nada.rybarova@ttg.cz www.ttg.cz

TTG Hungary Editorial Contact: Beata Somszegi 1066 Budapest Zichy J.u.4. Phone/fax: +36-1-321-1939 info@ttghungary.hu www.ttghungary.hu TTG Nordic Editorial Contact: Bjorn Stenfors Postfack 216 S-11674 Stockholm Sweden +46 0704 91 74 33 bjorn@ttgnordic.com www.ttgnordic.com TTG Russia Editorial Contact: Maria Shankina/Polina Nazarkina 57 Profsouznaya St, Office 721 Moscow, 117420 Russia Tel: +7 495 979 1227 polina@ttg-russia.ru www.ttg-russia.ru TTG Italia Spa Editorial Contact: Guido Groppi Via A .Nota, 6 1012 Torino Italy Tel: +39 011.436.63.00 groppi@ttgitalia.com www.ttgitalia.com Travel Magazine Serbia Editorial Contact: Zoran Djukanovic Gospodar Jovanova 9, 11000 Belgrade Serbia Tel/Fax: +381 (0)11 32 83 227 Tel/Fax: +381 (0)11 26 38 315 office@travelmagazine.rs www.travelmagazine.rs

SLOVAKIATOUR
ITF Slovakiatour is held every January at Incheba Expo Bratislava, Slovak Republic. It is a unique and already traditional event in Slovakia, during which at the beginning of each year, tourism industry professionals meet the key players in the area of tourism from Slovakia and abroad. The fair, organised by Incheba Plc, takes place under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, in close cooperation with professional partners Slovak Tourist Board, Slovak Association of Travel Agents, Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Slovak Republic and Association of Slovak Towns and Municipalities.

TTG ITALIA SPA EVENTS DIVISION TTG INCONTRI, BTC, TTI


Contact:Antonio DellAquilano TTG Italia SPA- Events Division Foro Buonaparte,74 20121 Milano Italia Tel: 39 02 8699 8471 Fax: 39 02 8699 8479 Email: ttgitalia.eventi@ttgitalia.com www.ttgitalia.com ; www.ttiworkshop.it ; www.btc.it .

TTG INCONTRI
TTG Incontri is the most important business-2-business travel trade fair in Italy: a forum for Italian and international professionals (tour operators, airlines, shipping lines, tourist boards, hotel chains etc.) as well as Italys leading travel agents. The formula, which has been honed down the years, gives travel professionals the opportunity to optimise encounters with their suppliers and clients, using the few days of the event to define future strategies ahead of time and to present the latest trends and novelties. During TTG Incontri, which is held in Rimini Fiera, many topical issues are debated during the numerous forums, conventions and conferences organised during the event. The event currently covers a total exhibition area of approx. 25,000 sqm.

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EFFECTIVE EXHIBITING MADE EASY


TTN Middle East Editorial Contact: Liz OReilly PO Box 224, Exhibitions Ave, Manama Bahrain Tel: +973 17293131 Fax: +973 17293400 Email: liz.oreilly@tradearabia.net www.ttnworldwide.com Travel World News Editorial Contact: Charlie Gatt 28 Knight Street Norwalk, CT 06851-4707 Tel: + 1 (203) 286-6679 Fax: + 1 (203) 286-6681 charlie@travelworldnews.com www.travelworldnews.com Turizmus Trend Editorial Contact: Zoltan Szanto 1037 Montevideo u. 3/b, Budapest, Hungary Tel: + 36 1 430 4561 Fax: + 36 1 430 4569 Email: szantoz@ttrend.hu www.turizmustrend.hu Xenios Travel World Xenios magazine & Xeniosworld.com Editorial Contact : Vassilis Bogris 22, ious str. GR-16671 Vouliagmeni Greece +30 210 9244360 editorial@xeniosworld.com www.xeniosworld.com

ITTFA and World Tourism Organization


ITTFA has been an affiliate member of the World Tourism Organisation since 1999 and as such has a special working relationship with it and its members. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations with a central and decisive role in promoting the development of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. UNWTO is the leading international organization in the field of tourism and serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues. Its Members include 142 countries, seven territories and more than 300 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities. Headquarters: World Tourism Organization Capitn Haya, 42 28020 Madrid Spain Tel: +34 91 567 81 00 Fax: +34 91 571 37 33 e-mail: omt@unwto.org Website: www.unwto.org

1 Old Forge Cottage, Carrington Road Richmond Surrey TW10 5AA secretariat@ittfa.org

For further details on ITTFAs media partners, please visit the ITTFA website at www.ittfa.org and view the Media Partners area.

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