PATA Travel Mart

guide and review of the PATA Travel Mart travel trade show / exhibition

Established in 1978, what was once the biggest travel trade exhibition for the Asian markets - the PATA Travel Mart - is once again trying to re-establish itself as a must attend event for people interested in the Asian Travel Trade and market place.

PATA took back management of the show in 2003, and have done a tremendous job of recreating the show, changing the dates from April to September - a month before ITB Asia which is held annually in Singapore - and relaunching the rotation of host countries that helped to make the show so successful in the past.

But the future is not as rosy as it sounds, as while PATA do keep choosing countries that will generate a lot of interest such as India, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Macau etc they are a lot of people that are still questioning its relevancy.

In 2011 the PATA Travel Mart again returns to India, this time to New Delhi when it will be held in September 2011, and one can only wonder how long it will before Mumbai gets a go at hosting the event too.

The 2010 PATA Travel Mart takes place between 14 - 17 September 2010 in Macau. Some 319-buyer delegates from 228-organisations across the world have registered to participate in the PATA Travel Mart 2010 in Macau, which should have no problem breaking visitors numbers with mainland China and Hong Kong on Macau's doorstep.

The 2008 PATA Travel Mart took place in Hyderabad, India from 16 - 19 September with a total built-up floor space of 3,766 square metres. Some 1,089 trade delegates, comprising 374 global buyers from 324 organisations and 715 Asia Pacific seller delegates from 301 organisations, plus numerous international media delegates have registered for the travel trade show. Hundreds of local trade visitors are expected to visit the show floor on Friday.

The 2007 PATA Travel Mart was held in Bali between 25 - 28 September. The 2006 PATA Travel Mart was held in Hong Kong and the 2005 PATA Travel Mart was held in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, which built on the success of the 2004 mart in Bangkok, Thailand.

The PATA Travel Mart 2007 had a total built-up floor space of 4,294 square metres.

While the Mart has come a long way in the last few years, there is still much needed to be done. One example of this is on the media and delegate side of things. Few journalists are hosted these days, and even certain events during the show such as the workshops do not actively encourage journalists to attend as they are forced to pay, as are delegates.

Press conferences should also have more interaction prior to the event with media attending the Mart. Rather than simply allowing anyone who pays to host a press conference, regardless if they have anything new to announce, media should be consulted to see who they would most like to meet and why. This should at least cut down on the pointless and repetitive conferences that so often seem to happen at many trade shows around the world..

For other travel trade shows and events check out our Calender of Travel Trade Shows, and be sure to check out the Latest Travel News section for all the latest travel industry news. 

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