TravelWorld 2005 Evokes Keen Interest At WTO Conference In Cambodia And Vietnam

TravelWorld 2005, South-Asia's largest 'business to business' tourism forum took centre-stage at the recently concluded World Tourism Organisation's 41st Regional Commission for East Asia and the Pacific in Cambodia and a Ministerial Summit on Cultural Tourism and Poverty Alleviation, in Vietnam. TravelWorld 2005 in partnership with the WTO, is the brainchild of Express Travel & Tourism, India's leading travel trade publication and part of the Business Publications Division of the Indian Express Group (IEG).

The ministerail summit saw 23 participants in attendance from South East Asia and the Asia Pacific, some of which were India, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hong Kong and Bhutan. At this Summit, Renuka Choudhary, union minister for tourism presented an insightful picture of cultural tourism and poverty alleviation in the Indian context. She created a considerable impact with her statement saying, "Tourism is going to be one of the future instruments of peace."

Sheldon Santwan, editor, Express Travel & Tourism presented TravelWorld 2005 in entirety and its outcome on the tourism industry. The presentation was highly appreciated by Xu Jing, regional representative - Asia Pacific, WTO, who addressed members and guests alike saying, "TravelWorld is an immense opportunity for the ASEAN region to participate and in turn showcase the tourism potential of each country to the world". He further emphasised WTO's role in tourism promotion saying, "WTO deals with tourism at the government level but in certain cases we also need to get the private sector involved. In that context, TravelWorld 2005 is one such event where the WTO is working hand in hand with the private sector and the Indian government in a bid to augment tourism."

Renuka Chowdhury, reiterated the fact that TravelWorld 2005 would indeed be the light at the end of the tunnel and encourage the industry to outperform even its recent glorious past.

Malaysia Going Aggressive On MICE

Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai

L-R: P Manoharan, director - India, Tourism Malaysia, M Shaifuddin Kamaruddin, area manager West India, Malaysia Airlines, Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, deputy director general, Tourism Malaysia, Zamberi B Abdul Aziz, director - immigration, Malaysia and Sheldon Santwan, Editor, Hospitality Group - BPD (Business Publications Division, Indian Express Group

The recently concluded three-city MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibition) road show cum travel mart by Tourism Malaysia and Malaysian Airlines in association with the feBusiness Traveller, sister publication of the Express Travel & Tourism, witnessed the launch of the new MICE campaign along with a series of benefits for Indian corporates, who wish to organise MICE events in Malaysia. The road show cum travel mart was held in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai respectively. The road show cum travel mart saw top Malaysian hotels and tour operators participate and interact directly with Indian corporates and travel agents alike.

Commenting on the potential of Malaysia as a MICE destination, Mirza Mohammad Taiyab Beg, deputy director general, Tourism Malaysia revealed that, "The Indian contribution for Malaysian MICE arrivals in the year 2001 was a paltry 7,351 when the total arrivals were 1,43,513. However, in the year 2003, these numbers grew to 18,608, a 153 per cent increase making India the eight largest contributor to the total Malaysian MICE arrivals, ahead of UK and Germany. Nonetheless, in an effort to tap this growing market, we brought down a 20 member strong delegation for this special three event."

He further added that, "The performance of the MICE industry has been encouraging, Malaysia is gearing itself to move quickly to capture a greater share in the international MICE market. The country has a distinctive advantage to offer to Indian corporates, less travelling time, world-class facilities at a value for money and an experience of hosting large international events. True to its slogan 'Malaysia Truly Asia', the country has an essential cosmopolitan culture and diverse character. And this variety is also reflected in its geographic make-up comprising scenic beaches, century's old rain forest and virgin islands, making it a very viable MICE destination for Indian corporates."

Buoyed by this growth and as part of the launch of the campaign, Tourism Malaysia along with their supporting partners would offer special incentive to enable Indian corporates and trade associations to host MICE events in Malaysia. These benefits include preferential airfares, special accommodation and transportation rates, dissemination of information collaterals, facilitation on custom and immigration clearances and special discounted rates on various convention centres. Elucidating the rationale behind the event, Beg added that, "One of the key objective of this campaign and the roadshow is to provide a comprehensive insight on the various opportunities and offerings that destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak has in stored for the Indian corporates to explore. This campaign would also highlight the viability and prospects for Indian corporates to link their MICE travel movement coinciding with the annual Malaysian international events. This campaign would be government supported - private driven initiative and is expected to help us achieve our target of 300,000 arrivals from India by 2005."

Tourism Malaysia's partners in this venture are Malaysia Airlines, State Tourism and Local Authorities, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Convention Venue Operators, members of the Malaysia Association of Hotels, Professional Conference Organisers, Exhibition Contractors, Destination Management Companies and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents.