Asia Luxury Travel Market, presented with the prestigious Five Star Diamond Award by The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences

Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM), the region’s tourism event staged exclusively for the luxury travel industry has been showered with accolades following its success and record attendance this summer in Shanghai.

The three-day event was double the size of the 2007 inaugural edition with over 1,100 of the world’s top sellers and Asia Pacific’s top buyers of luxury travel attending by invitation only at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from June 17-19. Over 17,000 appointments were held over the three days of the event.

During the show, ALTM was honoured with the prestigious Five Star Diamond Award by The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences.

The highly sought-after award recognises commitment to excellence in luxury and service with in-depth evaluations conducted and reviewed by an international board of trustees. ALTM is the first exhibition in history to have been bestowed this tribute.

Jay Martens, ALTM’s event director, said: “We are honoured to receive this highly coveted award that recognises the success of ALTM and its determination to drive the luxury travel industry forward in this region and act as a conduit for providers and buyers to meet.”

Asia Luxury Travel Market 2008 was preceded by the high level ALTM Conference at Shanghai Centre

ALTM was preceded by a high profile conference at the Shanghai Centre, attended by all delegates and many luxury brand representatives, where key figures in the luxury travel and brand sectors examined current and future travel trends, with a special focus on China.

On the final day of ALTM, the prestigious World Travel Awards held its inaugural Asia-Pacific event in Shanghai, at which ALTM won Asia’s Leading Travel Exhibition.

“This plus the many other smaller events held in Shanghai around ALTM this year goes to demonstrate how much ALTM has become a magnet for the luxury travel industry and is now the best place to reach out to the who’s who of the luxury travel industry in one go” said Jay Martens, Event Director of ALTM.

Among sellers, John H Philipson, director for Six Senses Resorts & Spas in the Maldives & Sri Lanka, was impressed that ALTM had doubled in size for the second edition and noted that “It is certainly the right place to be to focus on the Asian market.”

Over 17,000 appointments took place over the three days of the event, with over 70% increased compare with last year

Mark Witney, chief operating officer for Singita Game Reserves in Africa, was “impressed with the number of luxury travel agents and tour operators from all over Asia and Australasia. So many quality buyers from such a wide area makes ALTM an essential part of our annual calendar.”

Ana Garcia de Baranano, from Turismo Madrid, described participation as “a tremendous success” and added that “the quality of the meetings and overall organization was really great. Definitely we will participate next time.”

Among luxury travel buyers, Desmond Lim, senior manager for Anglo-French Travel PTE, said: “I truly found it a most efficient, rewarding and enjoyable event. It allowed me to meet new business partners and be introduced to products which were previously unknown. As a result new initiatives have arisen to introduce their products into our market.”

Paul Clabburn, general manager of Bahrain International Travel Group, enthused: “This was one of the most productive events I have attended in the past few years. It is clearly focused and homes in on just the type of exhibitors we need to meet.

“Considering that now there are so many travel and related exhibitions throughout the annual calendar, those more targeted to specific buyer needs will be the more successful and valuable.

“The travel business is evolving and 'one size' no longer fits all. I like to have my suits cut to fit me and not the general masses.”

FairFlights director Eliza Woodward was also awed: “The whole experience was invaluable for my business, as a small, luxury travel retailer in Australia. I was overwhelmed by the plethora of fabulous suppliers I met. I discovered properties I had never even heard of before, that I now will most definitely be sending clientele to.

“It was the most professionally run expo I have ever had the pleasure to attend – and Shanghai was the most brilliant host.”

Clive Hammond, managing director at Liberty Incentives and Congress Asia, said: “It was an extremely well organized show packed with quality.”

Wendy Buckley, managing director of Luxury Travel Specialists, aptly concluded: “I felt like a “kid in a candy store”. It was a great success and I would highly recommend the event.”