PTAA to further expand Travel Tour Expo
The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) believes its annual Travel Tour Expo (TTE), currently the biggest annual travel and tourism event in the country, still possesses a lot of room for growth.
PTAA president and TTE 2018 organizing committee chairperson Marlene Dado Jante said they are now exploring their options on how they can expand TTE beyond its current format.
“It a very special moment for the country’s tourism industry as Travel Tour Expo celebrates its 25th anniversary. Since 1993, we have been bringing together all the stakeholders under one roof. We are playing a key role in the growth of Philippine tourism,” Jante said.
She added: “This is the reason why we are pushing forward and searching for ways to evolve the expo from its venue, program and offerings to the public. Right now, the TTE is running parallel to the growth of our tourism industry. In its current format, there is a need to expand.”
The TTE occupies the entire SMX Convention Center and covers more than 16,000 square meters of floor space. However, what is significant is that there is at least 21-percent jump in the number of exhibitors from last year, bringing the total number of participants to 400 — the biggest single-year leap and the highest number of exhibitors in its history.
From 2011 to 2017, the number of exhibitors has grown by 30 percent as the expo went from having three halls to covering all of its eight halls.
Beyond Philippine tourism stakeholders, the TTE plays host to hotels and resorts, airlines, tour operators, cruise lines, theme parks, and national tourism organizations from across the world. It also features embassies, regional tourism offices and local government units.
At the same time, the third installment of the International Travel Trade Expo (iTTE) is also being tucked during the duration of TTE 2018.
The iTTE is the business-to-business (B2B) component of TTE, which allows PTAA members to have pre-appointed one-on-one meetings with executives from international tourism companies and national tourism organizations.
Among the countries and territories participating in the iTTE are Cambodia, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Israel, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
Two of the options being looked at by the PTAA are venue expansion or holding the TTE at two different locations.
“The PTAA has to seriously consider having a plausible secondary venue open along with SMX in the future because of the sheer number of exhibitors that want to participate. At the same time, we also see the iTTE to becoming a key element of the country’s tourism industry, so there is really a need for more space,” Jante said.
However, she explained that any expansion has to make sense logistically and within the fiscal capacity of the PTAA. She also said that venue for the TTE has to be easily accessible to visitors coming from any location.