Diwali Edition Of TTF, India's Oldest & Biggest Travel Show Opens At Nehru Centre

Online, September 16, 2011 (Newswire.com) - To cater to the needs of Diwali and winter vacation travelers, the first ever September edition of TTF (Travel and Tourism Fair), India's oldest and biggest travel show, opened today at Nehru Centre in Worli. Mr. K. K. Chettry, IAS Commissioner & Director, Manipur Tourism & Mr. Setaphan Buddhani, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mumbai office inaugurated the Fair.

The February edition (called the TTF&OTM) is well established as India's biggest and most popular international travel trade show for over a decade and half. The feedback from the industry pointed to the need for another event to tap the strong Diwali/Winter vacation season.

Organised in all major cities since 1989, this edition of TTF is the 91st such event in the country.

It is a one stop for Mumbaikars to make their travel plans for the upcoming Diwali and winter vacations. A large number of travel and tourism industry members from India and abroad attended the inauguration. Shri Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman and CEO of Fairfest Media Ltd, organizers of TTF remarked that the fact that Mumbai is the only city in the country where a second edition of TTF is being organised shows that it is the biggest travel market in India. "So much of response was unexpected, we had to refuse some last minute bookings", he said.

The concept of an event to tap the strong second season has found wide acceptance in the travel industry, and in the first year itself. It is a full-house show with over 166 exhibitors from 21 Indian states/UTs and 7 countries. Among the states present in a big way are Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka who are the Partner States, while West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are participating as Feature States. They have come all the way to showcase the tourist attractions of their states and offer attractive packages and options for the upcoming holiday seasons.

In addition to the Host State Maharashtra, the other states/UTs represented are Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Goa, Gujarat, Manipur and Chandigarh.

Mr. K. K. Chettry, IAS Commissioner-cum-Director of Manipur Tourim who was present for the inauguration said, "Indian Tourism Sector is growing through Indian Tourism policy supported by Private sector stake holders in respective sectors. For example, Tours by Tour Travel Operators and Tour and Travel Fair (TTF), Infrastructure Development through State Govt. and Tourism Development Corporation, hospitality through hoteliers, and management of Assets through PPP Management.

Manipur is still in an infant stage of tourism. The reason for this being Manipur is a terminal state, the last border. Connectivity through railways is nil and roads are long and rough. However, the air infrastructure development and the suspension of PAP- protected area permit system from 1.1.11. is helping the development. We are seeing a growth from European countries due to this suspension. Also about 65 flights a week from major centre's like Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati has helped in promoting the tourism in Manipur."

Leading the international presence is Thailand, the feature country. The other overseas destinations represented are Canada, China, Japan, Maldives, Singapore and Switzerland.

Besides State and National Tourism organizations, there are a large number of hotels, resorts, travel agents, tour-operators, cruise-lines, railways and travel portals amongst others.

It is an ideal forum for tourism organizations to aggressively launch their travel-trade and consumer marketing campaigns for the upcoming Diwali and winter holidays. The participants are making an aggressive pitch for the Indian Tourist with attractive displays and eye-catching exhibits showcasing their attractions and offers. Culture, nature, adventure, cuisine, history, antiquities, shopping, events etc. are all showcased at Worli's Nehru Centre, which gives the tourists an opportunity to evaluate various options available and decide on standard or customized packages suiting their budget and individual needs and interests.
A visitor survey conducted at TTF&OTM Mumbai in February this year revealed interesting insights: Around 40% of the respondents were interested in traveling abroad for a holiday, whereas 60% were looking at domestic holiday options. 68% of the visitors travelled for leisure, while 8% did so for pilgrimage. 19% of respondents traveled at least once in a year, 37% travelled twice, and as many as 69% planned to book a holiday at the fair, showing the high travel propensity of Mumbaikars. 40% of the visitors in February this year were repeat visitors to TTF&OTM.
Over the last fortnight TTF was organized in Ahmedabad and Surat, and before that in July in Hyderabad and Kolkata.
Next year it moves to Chennai and Bangalore in January, and then will come back to Mumbai and New Delhi in February.
TTF&OTM is India's only travel mart focusing exclusively on the Indian Tourist and is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, as well as travel trade bodies like Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

For over 20 years now the organizers have been providing a countrywide networking and marketing platform to the global travel and tourism industry to reach out to its target audience in India.