Chennai to Host ‘India International Travel Mart’ India’s Premier Travel and Tourism Exhibition

Mr Sundar Hon. Secretary Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Inaugurates IITM Chennai 2018

Mr Sundar, Hon. Secretary Tamil Nadu Travel Mart inaugurated IITM- India International Travel Mart 2018, in presence of Mr S Venkat N Reddy, President, SKAL International Chennai, Mr Sanatan Pancholi Resident Manager Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd. Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions Pvt Ltd & Mr Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions Pvt Ltd were present on the occasion. The event was held on 3rd August 2018 at Chennai Trade Centre Nandambakkam.

This year’s event was one of the most colourful and vibrant editions of the IITM-Chennai ever seen. With more than 200 exhibitors and 1000 Trade Buyers, and a footfall of more than 10,000 visitors on all the three days. The event was a success which was seamlessly managed by Sphere Travelmedia and Exhibitions. This three-day event brought top buyers and exhibitors face to face to showcase and market their offerings.

The three-day event will showcase glimpses from the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. The time for IITM Chennai is perfect for the upcoming holiday season in India, Dussehra (Vijayadashami also known as Dasara, Dussehra or Dussehra is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navratri every year) & Deepavali, long weekends as well as round-the-year travel, vacations and business plans.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sanjay Hakhu, Director, Sphere TravelMedia said, “India in spite of the present business environment is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B & B2C format like and will have over 15,000 buyers over three days”.

Tourism Studies and Trends indicate that the year 2018 – 19 will see more than 20 million Indian tourists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low-cost international airfares and holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International travel is no longer a luxury.

Highlights:

• Some of the International participants who are participating this year include participants from Maldives, Nepal, Dubai, Malaysia etc
• Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka are the ‘Partner States’ while Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Telangana will be the ‘Feature Destinations’ at the event.

• Tamil Nadu is the Host State for the event.
• Other states being represented include Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and many more.

• More than 150 hotels and resorts are participating from all over India, making it one of the most diverse ranges of hospitality products in the country on display.
• Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, etc.
• International Holiday Packages from IRCTC

The ‘India International Travel Mart’ provides an ideal ‘marketing opportunity’ and ‘excellent backdrop’ to enhance the participant’s ‘brand-equity’ in the eyes of the discerning end consumer and the travel-trade.

Boost for Domestic Tourism:

The event showcases travel and hospitality products from every part of the country, making it one of the biggest congregations of travel-trade in the country. The event provides unmatched networking opportunities to interact with Travel-Trade and Corporate Buyers alike.

Mr Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia added: ‘domestic travel as the backbone’ of India’s tourism portfolio and with an estimated 561 million domestic tourist visits. This segment is probably only second to China in terms of sheer size. With the rapid economic development taking place in the country and availability of greater disposable income combined with affordable holiday packages, tourism in India is increasing steadily and acts as a catalyst for the furthering the economic growth in view of its wide-ranging linkage effects and multiple impacts. The participants from the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and many more destinations will be seen aggressively marketing their products will be there with their travel and tourism stakeholders”.