World Travel India 2004 Makes An Impact On Debut

World Travel India (WTI) 2004, India’s first-ever international travel and tourism event, took the industry by storm. The event, which saw business sessions like a CEO’s Conclave, a Civil Aviation panel discussion, opened new avenues for the trade, besides being an ideal forum for buyer-seller interaction. Reema Sisodia reports...

Here goes the popular saying ‘that all good things must come to an end..' but we go a step further and say `..so that one can wish for better times to come.' This aptly sums up the feeling of all the participants, who were part of the four-day high powered action packed event at World Travel India (WTI) 2004, India's first international travel and tourism event. “We would definitely come back again next year", "It is an event on the lines of WTM", "The event has proved to be a genuine platform for effective business building and promotions", "Great beginning, keep the good work going", were some of the many encouraging comments that helped reaffirm the fact that WTI has arrived and with style. The opportunities to network and build bridges were offered throughout the entire day moving into the evening at special hosted dinners sponsored and organised by individual companies, like Tourism Malaysia, Goa Tourism and Kinex Log, the organisers. But the most prominent evening of WTI was that of the Antiquity feBusiness Traveller Awards. It was an evening of high-voltage drama and anticipation. The J W Marriott hotel, Mumbai, was the venue which was awash with colour and excitement, as the who's who of the Indian travel and hospitality world filed into the hotel's opulent banquet hall. In a matter of a year since its re-launch, feBusiness Traveller was awarding excellence in the hospitality and tourism industry, where fourteen awards were handed out.

Hence, WTI took off amidst soaring enthusiasm, anxious expectations, interwoven with serious business sessions, and talks, (such as the high-powered CEO's Conclave and the Civil Aviation panel discussion) to a landing that was welcomed with applauds and appreciation. It was the first flight that took off on the Indian travel and tourism skies, where the two pilots namely Express Travel & Tourism as the strategic partner and UK's Kinex Log International directed it to a safe and successful landing, to take off again in the coming year to reach greater heights.

The thought process for WTI was put forth somewhere in the month of May 2003. Once the decision was taken to put the thoughts into action, work began on super sonic speed to shape up an unique product that would take the Indian travel and tourism trade by a storm. The journey from then till the D-day, February 5, 2004, was filled with hopes, expectations and dreams. Infact, the period that marked the WTI event (February 5-8, 2004), will be recorded as one of the most promising phase that the Indian travel and tourism industry has ever witnessed. “The event has taken the first step to place India on the global map in the area of travel and tourism events. It is an historic event which we are a part of," says Gour Kanjilal, regional director (west & central India), Indiatourism, Mumbai. With wholehearted support for the centre (ministry of tourism and culture, government of India), with encouraging words from the state (Maharashtra government), there was no looking back.

It All Began Amidst Bright Lights And A Full House

Amidst his hectic schedule, Jaidatta Kshirsagar, minister-tourism, government of Maharashtra kept up his promise and arrived at the venue (Bandra-Kurla complex, Mumbai's new age business district) just in time. Cutting the customary ribbon, he declared WTI-2004 open. Kshirsagar said, "WTI has given Mumbai a promising platform to develop the region as a potential tourism hub. It gives me great pleasure to be the host state for such a promising venture. The state will always function as an effective catalyst to develop the spirit of tourism in the region and I would like to congratulate the Indian Express Group, which has taken the effort to put together an event of international standards."

The inauguration function commenced with the lighting of the traditional lamp by Kshirsagar, Dina MacDonald, MD, Kinex Log, Alex Kyriakidis, partner, travel, tourism & leisure, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways, Ian Graham, Hotel Solutions Partnership, London, Ashish Kumar Singh, MD, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Sandeep Khosla, head BPD, Indian Express Group.

Interesting presentations by the panelist and talks marked the beginning of the inaugural session. Alex Kyriakidis set the tone for the proceedings, flagging off his presentation with a video clipping that depicted the world socio-political scenario. The video highlighted the alarming incidences of terrorism and epidemics and the impact that these had on tourism and travel globally. He spoke about Deloitte's role in the tourism industry and underscored key tourism drivers in the coming years. He touched upon aspects such as safety and security, the role of the Internet, participation of the government, new business models and the change in demographics that need to be considered since these, he felt, would play a vital role in the future of the tourism industry. He also highlighted the fact that educating travellers would be important in the future. Akbar Al Baker highlighted the performance of Qatar Airways over the years and its importance in the Indian market. Baker said he was proud that Qatar Airways was WTI's official airline and that he considered WTI to be a promising platform to introduce Qatar Airways in the Indian market with vigour. Ian Graham, spoke about the Indian tourism market in comparison to the world. He provided interesting recommendations to place India on a better tourism platform. He spoke about the three C's that is customer, channel and content management as important aspects of the future. Singh, highlighted the promise that the state held in the area of tourism. He also spoke about the state's latest tourism venture in the premium luxury market - The Deccan Odyssey. Concluding the inauguration session Khosla said that the new slogan of India, 'India Shinning', is most relevant in the area of tourism. WTI is shining and shining bright.

Keeping Up The Promise And Delivering It

Tour operators both national and international (WTI had a special international hosted buyers programme), travel agents, tourism boards both state and international and host of others who form the core of the tourism business were present. Meeting their expectations and delivering what was promised to them was the true test for WTI.

Said Animesh Ghatak, general manager, sales & marketing (Ramee Group of Hotels-Dubai), "We will certainly be there for WTI next year. Our expectations and hopes have been well met and the purpose, which was of networking and business building, was well served. We are now looking forward to reinforce our business contacts of WTI at the forth-coming Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) event. Our initial apprehensions related to a first time event was put to rest as WTI delivered what it had promised." The general mood across the exhibitors alley was that of positivity and enthusiasm.

WTI brought together buyers from across the world from countries such as Greece, Ukraine, South Africa, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, UK, France, just to name a few. Expressed Hans - Jorg Hussong, managing director, Comtour, a German-based travel company that sells only India as a destination, "I am passionate about my product that is India as I have been selling it for the past 20 years. This event has indeed brought to light a number of new business avenues and prospective destinations that can gain popularity within my target audience. The civil aviation panel discussion was an interesting one as it brought to light a number of hardcore issues that ails the Indian civil aviation industry."

Hard Talk

Apart from the hard talks and suggestions that were brought about at the civil aviation panel discussion, which was held on the third day of the event, the CEO's Conclave which was held on the second day of the event proved to be a major eye opener for the industry. "The CEO's Conclave is exactly what the trade requires," said Pradip Madhavji, honourary consul, New Zealand Consulate (Mumbai). 120 CEOs, vice-presidents, managing directors and senior representatives of the Indian travel and hospitality trade ensured that the Conclave had the correct weightage to make it one of the most decisive meetings of the industry till date. The Conclave's main highlight was a detailed presentation made by the special invitee, Dr Harsh Varma, regional representative for the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in the Asia-Pacific region, who spoke about "Tourism Trends In Asia- Pacific Region- The India Impact."

Tourism is one of the most promising areas that fit in perfectly into the new age slogan of India that is India Shinning. This was the consensus which was more like a unanimous voice at WTI. The time is just right to rise and shine and take the big leap is what the movers and the thinkers of the travel and tourism fraternity strongly felt and put forth. Thus, it was lights, camera, action all through out the four day event. But as the lights went dimmer and the camera slowly faded away from the scene the word action was here to stay as one has to live up to the promise of providing a show that is bigger, brighter and better in 2005.