Asia propels growth of global travel industry

SINGAPORE – The sixth edition of ITB Asia opens today at the newly renovated Suntec Singapore Exhibition Convention Centre.

This year’s trade show sees participation from first-time exhibitors from Greece and Russia as well as Brand USA, leading to an increase of 30 per cent in participation, compared to 2012. Last year, the Asia-Pacific travel market earned a total of US$326.2 billion in gross earnings and the figure is expected to grow by some eight per cent in 2013.

“The show has evolved tremendously from when it first made its debut in 2008 and has now gained an even greater international dimension. Now that Asia-Pacific has taken the crown as the world’s largest travel market, it becomes even more critical for us to maintain our position as an effective platform to network and gain insights about the region’s travel market. Our partners rely on us to gain up-to-the-minute overview of the Asian travel industry’s value chain to stay at the forefront of trends and developments,” said Christian Goke, chief executive officer, Messe Berlin, organiser of ITB Asia.

At the press conference this morning, Lionel Yeo, chief executive of Singapore Tourism Board highlighted that ITB Asia has been the anchor event for the tourism trade here in Asia. Yeo added that the complementary events such as Travelrave, a mega travel and tourism festival week organised by the Board. These events are carefully curated to meet the demands of the trade, offering Asia-focused networks, insights and knowledge.

Over the next three days, the show is expected to attract over 8,000 attendees from 90 countries.

Asia propels growth of global travel industry