ITB – to Make Way to India in 2020

NEW DELHI:
Messe Berlin, one of the world’s leading trade fair companies, announced that it will be organising the inaugural ITB India in 2020. The 3-day business-to-business travel trade show and convention will take place at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India, from 15 to 17 April 2020.

The show will bring together key travel industry leaders and buyers from cities across India, and international exhibitors from the MICE, leisure and corporate sectors. ITB India will also have a Hosted Buyers’ Programme that will cater to buyers from the first, second, and third tier cities in India.

The Indian travel industry is expected to be valued at US$56 billion by 2020 with UNTWO, the World Tourism Organization, predicting that there will 50 million outbound travellers by then. ITB India represents a major opportunity for National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), travel, and hospitality companies to be part of this dramatically expanding market opportunity.

India’s economic growth means that its citizens are earning more disposable income to spend on travel. India’s outbound travel expenditure increased 7% on average year-on-year between 2006 and 2016 and saw an even higher growth rate of 8.5% in travel expenditure from 2015 to 2016. This rate was considerably higher than growth rates seen by other major countries including China, Indonesia, and Brazil for the same period.

“Having successfully run eleven editions of ITB Asia, it is logical for us to progress to the next frontier of travel in Asia. India represents an extremely promising market with a growing purchasing power among travellers from the region. We are optimistic that ITB India will be a prominent platform for attendees from the MICE, leisure and corporate sectors to come together to further grow the Indian travel market,” said Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB India.

Of the buyers at ITB India, 50% are expected to focus on leisure travel, with MICE and corporate travel buyers making up the remainder with 25% respectively. Almost a third of all buyers at ITB India are expected to have a purchasing power of more than US$1 million. C-suite level and key decision makers are expected to make the bulk of buyers present at ITB India with 70% of them from this segment. 86% of expected buyers at ITB India will also be from the western and northern parts of India.

As with other ITB shows, exhibitors will be drawn from a wide range of companies and representatives from travel agencies and operators, NTOs, business travel and MICE, travel technology, accommodation, and transport. Organised by Messe Berlin, the inaugural ITB India will be a 3-day business-to-business travel trade show and convention focusing on the Indian travel market.

For more information on ITB India 2020, visit www.itb-india.com or contact itbindia@messe- berlin.asia.