New Frontiers at ATM
AMONG the top 10 finalists for the ATM 2009 New Frontiers Awards are China, for its recovery efforts in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake; Mumbai for its resilience against November 2008’s terrorist attacks; and Palestine, for its continuing tourism efforts amid ongoing political strife. Countries responding to catastrophic natural disasters resulted in the remaining seven nominations; the USA received two for its efforts in dealing with Hurricane Ike and the Midwestern Floods; Myanmar was recognised for its reaction to Cyclone Nargis which killed 146,000 people; unseasonal flooding in Yemen - which left 20,000-25,000 homeless - saw the Arab nation nominated, while Tajikistan, Egypt and China (severe flooding) complete the 10 candidates. The final three winners will be decided by a panel of judges from global travel and tourism associations and during the ATM on 5 May.
Packed agenda at IMEX Association Day
IMEX has announced a full programme of educational sessions and round table discussions for its next Association Day taking place in Frankfurt on May 25. It features advice from leading industry experts and tailor made networking opportunities. The IMEX exhibition from May 26 to 28 is forecast to attract 800 association buyers from across the globe over the three days of the show. Attending for the first time is keynote US speaker Elliott Masie, who will present a seminar entitled “What is the meeting of the future? (And can we start today?)”. UK specialist in crisis management and workplace health Dr David Perl, will moderate a session on “Communication and PR when times are tough”.
Success reached at first Conventa
CONVENTA - the first meetings and incentive travel show in Southeast Europe – brought together over 80 providers of congress services from Slovenia and six other countries in the region (Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Bulgaria) and over 150 domestic and international hosted buyers – meeting and event organisers. The event was held in January at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre in Slovenia. The Conventa show is an evolution of the Simex trade show, which took place in 2007 and 2008.
ITTFA welcomes new members
ITTFA, the International Tourism Trade Fairs Association, welcomes two new members for 2009, MTM of Morocco and Vakantiebeurs, the Utrecht based event. The shows join other market leaders in the tourism exhibition industry, including TUR, Gothenburg; MITT in Moscow and TTG Incontri, Rimini, whose aim, as part of ITTFA, is to promote the industry and raise standards. Moroccan Travel Market is held in Marrakech in January each year and despite being a relatively new show, coming into its third year, it hosted over 260 exhibiting companies from 23 countries, attracting over 10,000 trade visitors at its show last month and looks set to develop further for next year.
TTN media partnership with ALTM
Travel & Tourism News (TTN) Middle East’s media partnership with the Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM) 2009 being held from June 15 to 18 in Shanghai underlines a fast growing Middle Eastern presence in Asia’s luxury travel sector. ALTM, organised by Reed Travel Exhibitions, is the region’s annual event dedicated to the luxury travel industry for the most discerning Asian luxury travel buyers. Jumeriah group will be exhibiting at ALTM for the third year; the next property it opens will be in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, and has future developments planned in Indonesia, the Maldives and Thailand. The Dubai government, exhibiting for the second year, is also known to be seeking hotel investment opportunities in the region, including Vietnam. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is another major player with big plans in both markets in 2009 and is exhibiting for the third year in a row. Middle eastern openings
include Grand Hyatt Doha in Qatar and Park Hyatt Jeddah.