GLOBAL TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS HAIL SATTE 2014 AS THE REGION’S MOST VIBRANT SHOW

The 21st edition of SATTE witnessed a massive industry response with over 640 exhibitors from 35 countries, 23 Indian States, airlines, airline, DMCs, hotels and the entire gamut travel, tourism and hospitality suppliers showcasing their products. The event received a record 10,000 business meeting request between buyers and sellers. SATTE also welcomed its highest-ever number of attendees - 11,529 travel trade professionals, including pre-registered and hosted Indian and international buyers and business visitors.
SATTE, one of the leading travel exhibitions of the world and South Asia’s largest travel show, opened to a massive industry interest and response from 29-31 January amidst the continuing global economic challenges, re-enforcing a renewed faith of global travel community of better days ahead facilitated through one of the world’s fastest and strongest emerging region of South Asia.

A premier global travel mart now, the 21st edition of SATTE opened with its single most drive to offer platform to the travel industry from across the globe to conduct business, open new destinations and business opportunities, network and renew old contacts.     

Welcoming the guests and dignitaries at the opening function of SATTE 2014, Michael Duck, Executive Vice President, UBM Asia, laid great emphasis on India as a source market as well as a destination. “The crossroads of Asia is here in India. The vibrancy of tourism offerings here in India are fantastic and we are scratching the surface at the moment. There is great opportunity for the future. The opportunity also lies for the destination that excites the new Indian tourists. I know when you leave this exhibition in three days you will go away with a very satisfied position of knowing what is going to happen in the future,” he said.

Opening the inauguration ceremony, Joji George, Managing Director, UBM India, informed that the event this year has grown bigger and better. According to George, 160 international and 430 Indian pre-registered trade buyers attended the event.

While welcoming the delegates to the event, Chief Guest Parvez Dewan, Secretary Tourism, Government of India, hailed SATTE as a ‘national institution.’ “It is a very major institution on the firmament of Indian tourism,” he said. Dewan also informed that the outbound figure has been recorded at over 16 million and hoped that the inbound number will be closer to the magic figure of 7 million as the final figures are tabulated in the next couple of months.

Dewan particularly highlighted the ‘777 Days of Himalayas, recently launched Bodh Gaya campaign targeted particularly at some 23 Buddhist countries, the Government’s initiative for the nine states of North East including West Bengal, visa free travel for Maldivians to India for medical reasons, as some of the Government’s initiatives aimed at attracting foreign tourists during the off-season.

Dewan also reminded the delegates of some of the promises that he had made on the eve of SATTE 2013 that his department has been able to deliver, including visa relaxation, removal of restrictions on re-entry of foreign tourist before 60 days and Visa on Arrival facility at more Indian airports.

Alla Peresselova, Programme Manager, Fairs and Special Field Projects, Silk Road, UNWTO, attending the SATTE conference delivered the special message of UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai. While lauding SATTE for developing a very comprehensive programme of events and cementing its reputation as one of the leading networking and business platforms for the tourism sector in South Asia, Rifai in his message said, “SATTE will prove to be an ideal opportunity to address the issues and innovations that are currently influencing our sector. This will, concomitantly, set the scene for years to come and open immense opportunities in terms of interregional cooperation and inclusive business development.”

Rifai further reiterated UNWTO’s commitment to continuing its collaboration with SATTE. He said, “I am convinced that the outcome of this tourism fair will help shape and contribute to a more sustainable and dynamic future for our sector.”

Speaking on the occasion Nakul Anand, Chairman, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) and Executive Director, ITC Ltd. laid emphasis on the unconventional wisdom that India needs to follow in order to highlight the various unique facets, features and diversity of India. He said, “India has the potential to reach just about any height. We will target the 1 per cent share of world tourism as our first objective as set by the MoT by converting our natural and economic advantage into competitive advantages.” Anand also pointed out that the industry must seek to power every wheel of tourism at the state level in order create maximum benefits for India tourism.

Drawing from the analogy of putting the ‘cart before the horse’ for doing things in the wrong order, Anand pointed out that tourism in India has always been considered an elitist strategy and not an economic activity. He said that, rather than create a push for tourism, there is a need to create a pull, similar to putting the horse before the cart and not the other way round.

He also quoted former US President Bill Clinton who had famously said at the WTTC Global Summit in Abu Dhabi last year, “I spent a lot of time when I was President, trying to end wars, prevent killing and promote understanding. What I have seen is that peace works better than conflict, and one of the best manifestations of it is in travel and tourism.”

Subhash Goyal, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), associated with SATTE since the show started 21 years ago, called India the greatest show on planet Earth. Goyal highlighted India’s unique place as the cradle of religions, and drew attention to the heritage, the Himalayas and the beaches of India, among other attractions.

Hailing SATTE as an institution in itself, S M Shervani, President, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said, “Each year this unique forum witnesses a unique confluence of some of the best minds and leading voices in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector. SATTE also serves as an extraordinary showcase of incredible India encapsulating its rich diversity dynamism and thriving business opportunities. The overwhelming participation of major hospitality companies from India and abroad and the presence of the venerable who’s who of the travel trade bears ample testimony to the profound importance that our industry attaches to this prestigious event. SATTE’s success is also a vivid reflection of India’s ever-growing global influence, both as a captivating destination and a lucrative market.” 

He further stated that FHRAI is confident of SATTE’s continued contribution towards its shared goal of placing India in its rightful position among the world leaders in tourism. “We are proud to endorse this landmark initiative,” he added.

VisitBritain made a grand debut at SATTE with a big delegation and was also prominently visible all across the venue on hoardings and shuttles. The NTO also signed and supported the signing of a series of MoU with the key trade associations of India and the key trade associations of the UK in order to nurture business between the two countries, all on the sidelines of SATTE.

Addressing the attendees at the inauguration, Sandie Dawe, CEO, VisitBritain, said, “We are attending SATTE for the first time and with a large number of suppliers. They are excited about this market. Last year there was a 9 per cent growth in visitors numbers from India to the UK, helping the UK break the GBP 20 billion mark for the first time in inbound spend.”

Malaysia Tourism has shared a long-standing relation with SATTE and the destination has continued to develop the Indian market year-on-year, capitalising on its networking and product promotions at SATTE for years.

At the inauguration, Zulkifly Md. Said, Director General, Islamic Tourism Centre, Malaysia, said, “Malaysia has been a regular feature at SATTE for the past 10 years. The outbound market from India has grown tremendously and India, along with China, is the only country where we have established three offices. Tourists coming from India to Malaysia number 700,000 and have made significant contribution in tourism receipt, almost MYR 2 billion and we treasure the presence of Indian tourists in Malaysia. We also see a growing number of Indian making Malaysia their second home under the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ programme. We will continue to be here at SATTE for a good number of years to come.”

Lauding SATTE’s efforts and initiatives in promoting tourism, both to and from India, Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said, “SATTE has been a catalyst in promoting bilateral tourism, both inbound and outbound opportunities.” He also drew attention to the 640 exhibitors participating at the exhibition this year which he said is an example that how big the event has become and also grown in importance for the tourism industry’s growth.

Also speaking on the occasion, Zakkir Ahmed, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said, “For more than two decades each and every one of us has been most impressed by the blazing success of SATTE, and over these 20 years the event has grown in stature and performance to achieve a very enviable pace of growth. This year too is going to be no different. Last year there was an impressive surge of 18 per cent in appointment enquiries. No event achieves such milestone until and unless it maintains the highest criteria and quality of buyers’ profile, strategic planning and quick responses.”

Ahmed also pointed that exhibitions are a dime a dozen, but yet most of us ensure that we block our dates for SATTE. “The reasons are simple. SATTE is a professionally run event, attracts quality delegates from India and abroad, and more importantly, it provides a common platform for beneficial and meaningful interaction with key contacts.”
 
Pointing out the twin benefits of outbound travel, Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) said, “When Indians travel to the various part of the world they also act as the country’s brand ambassador.” He therefore called the outbound trade the welcoming community for India.

Sahni also opined that the various NTOs present in India contribute to the Indian economy by means of their destination marketing initiatives in the country. He particularly pointed out Visit Britain’s active initiative in this area in the recent years. He also commended the platform that SATTE has created through this exhibition and commented that the exhibition has continued to evolve year on year.