Leading operators once again confirmed that Riva del Garda is Italy's most important business-to-business event for the tourist industry. The 39th edition of TTG Incontri and the 2nd edition of TTI which, for the first time were held together in the Palafiera of the Trentino city, attracted 20,000 trade representatives against the 18,000 who had attended TTI Incontri last year.

Visitors were up 5.7% from the 8,600 of last year to 9,090 of this edition and there were many repeaters. In fact from the 6.9% of repeaters last year the number shot up to 31.1% this year. Exhibitor numbers were up from 2,842 to 3,703, which meant around a thousand companies (608 booths) for TTG Incontri and 300 for TTI. And then there were the 227 international buyers from 33 countries who came to TTI and 230 journalists, against the 180 media representatives who attended in 2001.

The exhibition area, now in its second edition, was a lively venue for reflection and exchange on the main issues the industry is having to address. This year the forums organised by TTG Italia focused on the future of Italian travel agencies and analysing the rapport between tour operators, suppliers and the market.

The forum on the inbound market threw light on Italy as a competitive product while twenty-one press conferences were organised by TTG Incontri exhibitors as well as two seminars: a marketing seminar dealing with customer loyalty and a seminar on the agency association phenomenon in Europe.

A survey carried out by the Events Division of TTG Italia to ascertain the satisfaction level of exhibitors and visitors highlighted that 60% of TTG Incontri's exhibitors were pleased with the level of contacts made at the fair (55% in 2001) and that 17.8% considered the level excellent. Visitors said that participating is a good way to find out about the new products suppliers are offering (24%) and is interesting for the new business opportunities that can arise (16%). Some 52% of the tour operators present at TTI said being there was positive both with regard to the contacts they made and for the way the event was organised, while 37% judged these to be excellent and 11% quite good.

The dates for next year have already been fixed: the 40th edition of TTG Incontri will be held in Riva del Garda from 10th to 12th October while the third edition of TTI will also be held in Riva del Garda on 10th and 11th October, 2003.