ITB Asia News 2019 Preview
THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER 2019 PREVIEW EDITION CONTENTS 2 NEWS 10 TRADE TALK 11 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS 13 SPECIAL FEATURE: WELLNESS TOURISM 15 SPECIAL FEATURE: CITY BREAKS 17 SPECIAL FEATURE: MEDICAL TOURISM 18 REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN 22 WHERE TO GO IN SINGAPORE NEWS Katrina Leung Managing Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore) Our conference sessions are designed to get attendees to rethink how they understand the industry. See page 7 TRADE TALK Taking nations to Asia ITB Asia returns with highest ever number of participating National Tourism Organisations Demand from National and Regional Tourism Organisations at this year’s ITB Asia is up around 25% compared to 2018. There has been unprecedented exhibition demand, with 110 NTOs and RTOs registered at last count; a new record. Largest exhibition spaces registered are from Indonesia, Russia and South Korea. “NTOs and RTOs are the backbone for creating established inbound and outbound travel. The increased interest and high confirmed demand for exhibition space from NTOs and RTOs at ITB Asia 2019 affirms the value associated with ITB Asia as the leading travel trade show for Asia and beyond,” said Katrina Leung, Managing Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore), organiser of ITB Asia. The growth in NTO participation comes at a time when OTAs are also seeing increased contact with these organisations when it comes to winning the eyes of more potential travellers, and the methods of OTAs are evolving rapidly (see our exclusive interview with Angel Llull Mancas, Vice President and Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Booking. com page 11). Christopher Lee Founder of venuexplorer.com.sg Our acquisition by hotelplanner. com will definitely broaden our canvas and we are really thrilled about this partnership. See page 10 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN Angel Llull Mancas Vice President and Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Booking.com Bahruz Hamzaev Strategy Advisor to the State Committee for Tourism Development, Uzbekistan People from Malaysia and Indonesia are increasingly attracted to our country. See page 12 In the Americas, with growth in inbound tourist figures in the first half of 2019 at 2%, results improved in the second quarter after a weak start to the year. The Caribbean (+11%) benefitted from strong US demand and continued to rebound strongly from the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria in late 2017, a challenge which the region unfortunately faces once again. Discover more about leading players from the Americas at ITB Asia this year, from page 18.
