~Mapping trends and
Building Partnerships, a key focus at the South East Travel and Tourism Expo~
Informa Markets
in India kick started the New Year with a promising start at the 27th edition
of SATTE, a leading B2B travel trade engagement show, held at the India Expo
Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi – NCR. The three-day expo witnessed a tremendous
response from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry with participation
from over 1,100 exhibitors and co-exhibitors, along with representation from
over 50 countries and 104 Indian cities. The show was attended by over
35,000 travel and tourism professionals, while hosting 200 International Buyers
and 500+ Indian buyers.
The marquee expo was inaugurated by Chief Guest, Shri Prahalad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (I/C), Government of India along with key dignitaries- Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping, Govt. of India; YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar bin Wan Chik, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia; Ms. Nia Niscaya, Deputy Minister of Tourism Marketing, Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia; Mr. Michael Goh, President, Dream Cruises & Head of International Sales, Genting Cruise Lines; Mr. Subhash Goyal, Honorary secretary, FAITH; Mr Michael Duck, Executive Vice President -Asia, Informa Markets and Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India and amidst an august gathering.
Standing true to its focus of building new business partnerships and announcements, the expo discussed current trends in the ever-evolving industry. Like every successful year, SATTE 2020 hosted an exciting line-up of conferences to enlighten the industry by addressing the challenges and opportunities that Indian tourism offers. The exhibition received active support from various Indian and International travel and trade associations, wedding planners, corporate travel decision makers and investors amongst others. Indonesia was the Premium Partner country for SATTE 2020 while Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka were the other Partner Countries. Mauritius was the feature country at the coveted expo and Dubai was a Partner Destination. Goa, Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan were partner states for the 27th edition of SATTE, while Uttar Pradesh was the host state for the show.
Day 1 at the expo witnessed two panel discussions: The ‘Global Economic Scenario and Tourism Trends’ talked about the emerging scenario in global travel and tourism industry in India. The second panel discussion: ‘Adventure Tourism: Unlocking New Avenues’ focused on the major challenges and opportunities in adventure tourism.
Day 2 of the SATTE 2020 conference organized a panel discussion on Cinema Tourism. Day 2 was also a Corporate Travel Day powered by the Corporate Travel Community (CTC) that organized two powerful sessions on Airline Programmes + NDC Education Forum and ‘The Accommodation Outlook and Technology Innovations Education Forum’. Apart from these, the Network of India MICE Agents (NIMA) organized a set of 4 sessions and 1 workshop on MICE tourism. The sessions on both days were extremely insightful to industry leaders as they were presented with a deeper understanding on the industry and a futuristic outlook towards business survival.
Making their
entry for the first time this year, The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions
Authority (BTEA) held a series of meetings where they promoted the Kingdom
as a leading tourism destination. As for the Tourism Department of Jammu and
Kashmir, a massive publicity campaign was launched at this year’s expo.
Catering to India’s growing multi-generation travellers who are seeking new
travel options, the star attraction was the launch of Genting Cruise Lines-
‘Global Dream’, Dream Cruises’ first global class ship set to arrive in Asia in
2021. The 20-deck Global Dream will be the largest and first global class
cruise ship in the world by passenger capacity, accommodating over 9,000
passengers across 2,350 cabins.
Speaking at the successful
conclusion of SATTE 2020, Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets
in India said,“SATTE has always been an insightful exhibition for us
because of its ambitious nature. It has emerged as one of South Asia’s largest
international travel show that both the exhibitors and buyers from across the
world participate to showcase as well as shop for the diverse global travel and
tourism products and services. The most impressive thing this year was the
overwhelming response from the exhibitors and the discussions at the
conferences which were linked to trending subjects like Tourism and Jobs,
Corporate Travel, simplification of e-visas, destination weddings etc.
providing a great opportunity for all. With SATTE, we hope to provide
viable solutions to help business thrive in the ever-evolving
industry”
Uttarakhand Tourism was one of the key participants at the South Asian
Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE 2020), also hosting a gala networking dinner
with the State Tourism Minister Shri Satpal Maharaj in attendance. The
evening was studded by cultural dances like Chholia, Chapeli and Jaunsari that
were appreciated by over 600 travel-tour operators, hoteliers and media
representatives from India and abroad.
According to Shri Satpal Maharaj, “Uttarakhand is the land of spirituality, yoga and adventure. It is called Devbhoomi for a good reason. The rich natural resource here makes it a most suitable tourism destination catering to diverse needs. From being the yoga capital, and the seat of bird watching, wild life and adventure tourism, to being in focus internationally, with the Beatles group and Steve Jobs famously coming to our land, you get it all in our beautiful state and we welcome you there. I am delighted to be at SATTE and appreciate the expo’s efforts in bringing into focus the hidden gems and unexplored treasures of the world.”
For the first time, South African Tourism engaged in a highly successful association with SATTE 2020. Speaking at the trade show, Ms. NeliswaNkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism said, “We are extremely delighted with the reception South Africa received at SATTE 2020. We are also grateful to the trade fraternity for their support in packaging and endorsing the best of the Rainbow Nation. At South African Tourism, we constantly strive to introduce innovative products and experiences to allow each of our source markets a relevant, customized and memorable itinerary. As Indian travellers are looking to pack in a lot of action within shorter time spans, our New Region offerings were particularly well-received by the travel trade this year.”
”We are also
proud to have had 13 SMMEs as part of the exhibitor delegation. One of our core
objectives at South African Tourism is to support and grow the local economy.
SMMEs play a major role in the travel ecosystem and it is our privilege to
partner with these exhibitors who bring unique, off-beat experiences to the
table, and help us innovate our itineraries,” she added.
The 4th Edition
of the SATTE Awards powered by T3, recognized and celebrated the excellence,
triumphs and innovations of key stakeholders in the Travel and Tourism industry
across 20 categories, which were based on genuine and authentic parameters,
innovation and excellence in the travel and tourism industry, a philosophy well
imbibed in the values of SATTE.
