Over 1,000 buyer hosted by Rimini Fiera, boom from China, India and Arab Emirates. 450 coming to discover Italian products thanks to an educational tour in Veneto, Lombardy, Trentino, Lazio, Sicily, Basilicata, Campania, Umbria, Tuscany, Liguria.
RIMINI – Increasingly consistent and qualified international participation in TTG Incontri, the tourism marketplace, now at its 53rd edition, which this year has an appointment with the sector’s major players from 13th to 15th October at Rimini Fiera.
130 Italian and international destinations will be at the Expo Centre during the trade fair, with an entire hall dedicated to India and new entries such as China and Georgia, while Japan and Scandinavia are increasing their space and Indonesia once more returns to the Italian market.
Over 65,000 visitors are awaited, including over 1,000 buyers from 85 countries. Thanks to the TTG Incontri – Rimini Fiera buyer office, significant participation by travel professionals is confirmed, with 44% from outside Europe, while a large growth is also reported in Italian trade members (19% of the total). A large delegation of trade members interested in doing business will arrive once more from the United States, but the real boom is that regarding the attendance of Chinese buyers, about forty of which will arrive directly from China – the country to which a conference will be dedicated: ITALY-CHINA: growth opportunities in tourism and cooperation between companies and markets (TTG Forum Area – Friday 14th October 10.30) – plus about ten Chinese ex-pats working on the organization of their compatriots residing in Italy.
Among the most numerous delegations, after that arriving from the USA, the one from Canada, while there is an increase in the participation of buyers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other ex-Soviet Union countries.
There is a significant increase in attendance from the Arab Emirates, where the demand for Italian destinations ranges from corporate to incentive and high-level leisure, with particular attention being paid to fashion and Italian-made products in general. Among the new entries as far as trade members are concerned, those arriving from Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Albania.
Thanks to TTG Incontri – Rimini Fiera, the numerous foreign buyers will not limit their stay in Italy to the three days of the Trade Fair. In fact, approximately 450 of the trade members attending will take part in an educational tour in one or more Italian regions.
- China -The two countries with the highest spending on tourism are the USA (178 billion euros) and China (114 billion) and the attention of TTG Incontri 2016 is focussed precisely on China, with an appointment not to be missed by trade members, the conference entitled ITALY-CHINA: growth opportunities in tourism and cooperation between companies and markets (TTG Forum Area – Friday 14th October 10:30 am). Plus, on Thursday 10th October (Diotallevi Room 1 3:00 pm), the topic of discussion will by the new Rome-Beijing route inaugurated by Air China on 1st August. “Welcome aboard Dreamliner 787-9 Air China” is the title of this meeting.
- India – On the foreign front, there is an outstanding participation by India, which will occupy and entire hall. Approximately forty buyers are also awaited from India. Kash Batthacharya, a true guru in the world of bloggers, is precisely from India. Kash is a professional travel blogger, social media outreach specialist and Director of Creative Concepts with iambassador. On Friday 14th October, he will speak on the topic “How is the future of destination marketing shaping?”, during which he will share his long experience working with bloggers, online media, brands and destinations in the travel and tourism sector.
- Egypt – On Thursday 13th October (Ravezzi Room 1, 3:30 pm) a focus on Egypt, with the Egyptian Minister of Tourism Mohamed Yehia Rashed and Emad F. Abdalla (Director of the Egyptian Tourist Board). The Egyptian Minister of Tourism will cover the issue of security, particularly that of airports, for which the Egyptian government has spent millions of dollars in recent months and which has enabled European tourist trade member to consider tourism in Egypt with renewed confidence. For example, some weeks ago, several German airlines decided to fly to Egypt again and, consequently, the number of German tourists in Egypt is increasing again.
Also worthy of note is the international agreement between TTG Incontri and Skal International, International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals, headquartered in Torremolinos (Spain).
The aim of the agreement is to bring new international buyers for Italian tourism products. Skal International will send 200 new trade members chosen from the 36 of the Skal member countries and selected with the criteria required by the trade fair, who will join the contingent already foreseen at the expo to follow the same program.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
