ITB Asia 2015 - Travel trade innovation and product diversity

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                   / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

The eighth edition of ITB Asia, "The Leading Trade Show for the Asian Travel Market", opened its doors on 21 October 2015  at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore after the ribbon cutting ceremony with Mr S Iswaran, Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Christian Goke, CEO of Messe Berlin and Dr Michael Frenzel, Chairman of World Travel & Tourism Council as the focus took place past 10 am. 

The three-day event kicked-off with a number of powerful keynote panels discussing key trends and opportunities that will shape the future of the travel industry.

The opening panel was represented by industry heavyweights including Expedia, Airbnb and the World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC). Personalisation, innovation and technology were cited as some of the leading industry growth drivers. 

Mieke De Schepper, Vice President, APAC the Expedia Group, said, “Mobile is the new default. More than 1 in 4 of our global transactions on Hotels.com in Q2 was booked on a mobile device and we are investing in technology to enable our hotel partners to reach travellers in the way that they want to shop. The speed of innovation is faster than ever and the industry needs to focus on being nimble.”

Julian Persaud, Regional Director for APAC, Airbnb, Inc., commented, "The number of travellers looking for a local experience and staying in an Airbnb when they travel across Asia has grown by almost 400% in the last year alone. A growing number of these bookings are now made on mobile devices, a 60 times increase as compared to 2013, when the app was first introduced. Our success in the region would not be possible without a growing community of hosts in this part of the world who share their homes which has become a part of their lifestyle." 

ITB Asia attracts delegates from across all sectors of the travel industry and exhibitors including airlines, trailblazers and pioneers from leading MICE, corporate and leisure companies to network, identify new business opportunities and discuss the latest regional trends. 

Through 760 exhibitors from 73 countries reaching out to 860 buyers and 10,300 attendees, ITB Asia 2015 heralds the trends of travel trade innovation and product diversity.

Airbnb and Hotels.com are popular hotel and flight booking web-sites.

The various hotel and flight booking web-sites that exhibit at ITB Asia 2015 include TripAdvisor and Tuniu Corporation. 

TripAdvisor shows media and buyers how to use its web-site effectively to upload hotel room prices, destination and hotel profiles and reviews.

Tuniu Corporation entices buyers with its company profile, its Chinese-language based flight booking web-site tuniu.com and symbolic toy cows. Tuniu on the likes of other Chinese booking web-sites such as Ctrip and E-Long plans to open an English section on its booking web-site in the future to meet market demand.

The airlines either exhibit under the countries' tourism pavilions or on their own.

Vietnam Airlines has its own booth under the pavilion of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) for the first time showcasing its new fleet of B787-900 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900 aircraft and its current month inflight magazines Heritage and Heritage Fashion. Postcards are not available.

Hai Au Aviation the charter flight operator on the pioneer Hanoi - Ha Long Bay and Ho Chi Minh - Pan Thiet routes distributed limited flight promotion brochures, its company parent Thien Minh Group (TMG) profile and its travel magazine Buffalotours, inspired by its sister tour division company name of BuffaloTours.com at VNAT. The airline and other members of TMG also held a press conference at ITB Asia on 22 October on their travel products for this year and 2016.

Hai Au Aviation established in 2011 and launched flight operations in 2014 using Cessna Grand Caravan EX seaplanes says it may operate light aircraft charter flights from Hanoi to Luang Prabang and from Ho Chi Minh City to Sihanouville, among possible destinations in Laos and Cambodia in the future.

Other airlines that exhibit under tourism bodies' booths include Lao Airlines, Solomon Airlines, Fiji Airways,  Pacific Island Air and AirAsia.

Lao Airlines gave away its company history and route map brochures at the booth of Lao National Tourism Authority (LNTA) where the tourism authority markets Luang Prabang in full scale, Vientiane, Savannakhet and tourism destinations, nature, cuisine and cultures in southern Lao provinces of Salavan, Champasak, Sekong, Attapeu and Mekong Island. Savannakhet brochures ran out on the first day.

LNTA and Lao Airlines first exhibited in ITB Asia in 2013 to celebrate nearly an anniversary of flights from Vientiane to Singapore. Lao Airlines' inaugural commercial flight to Singapore from Vientiane begins on 24 November 2011 and now flies thrice a week to Luang Prabang via Vientiane from Singapore.

Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) that first exhibited in ITB Asia in 2014 distributed SIVB Solomon tourism booklets and limited hardcopies of Solomons magazine of Solomon Airlines to the attendees.

The airlines that exhibit in ITB Asia for the first time are Cebu Pacific Air, Air Astana and AirAsia.

Cebu Pacific distributed the remaining stock of its Smile magazine editions of August and September 2015 and its Davao-Singapore-Davao inaugural flight advertisement cards.

Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan, exhibits through its Singapore GSA Worldwide Aviation Sales, by distributing the updated Air Astana Holidays booklets and hardcopies of its Southeast Asia flight Timetable for 2015.

Air Astana recently launched new commercial flights from Astana to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport with flight KC231 departing from Astana at 1.30 am, arriving in Suvarnabhumi at 9.50 am before leaving Suvarnabhumi at 11.30 am and touching down in Astana at 7 pm using its Boeing B767 aircraft on Mondays and Thursdays under KC232.

Air Astana also operates flights from Almaty to Suvarnabhumi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. It introduces the Economy Sleeper Class on flights from Astana to London, Frankfurt, Paris and between Almaty and Hong Kong for the price of an Air Astana Economy fare.

AirAsia is the official airline partner of Goa Tourism with regular flights from Goa to Kuala Lumpur. It distributed flight planning brochures to the visitors and media.

In all, the exact airline exhibitors of ITB Asia 2015 that really distribute their collateral include Vietnam Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines, Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, Air Astana, Uzbekistan Airways, Air Berlin, Turkish Airlines, Finnair, Korean Air,  Aerodiana, Maverick Aviation Group, Grand Canyon Helicopters and Grand Canyon Airlines.

Uzbekistan Airways that has been planning to join the Sky Team alliance in 2016 showcases Uzbek foodstuffs, destinations and distributes the October 2015 edition of Uzbekistan Airways Inflight Magazine and its own aircraft magnet advertisement cards to the attendees.

Bangkok Airways distributed brief profiles, stickers and its Summer 2015 Timetable hardcopies that are not available in the Singapore branch office.

Philippine Airlines handed out flight schedules and limited B777-200 airline-issued model kits.

Aerodiana of Peru distributed its Nasca Lines route maps, company brochure cards and it is the anchor tenant of the newly-constructed Pisco International Airport in Peru.

Maverick Aviation Group, Grand Canyon Helicopters and Grand Canyon Airlines distributed their company travel magazines to the attendees.

The country with the biggest exhibitor presence in ITB Asia 2015 is Thailand where Pattaya Chonburi Province travel traders showcase the new face of Pattaya at a separate booth. Thai AirAsia commences flight to Pattaya from Singapore on 27 November 2015.

Singapore is second, followed by the United States, Indonesia, Peru, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos. Mongolia is represented by Black Ibex Expeditions.

The country to exhibit at ITB Asia 2015 for the first time is Botswana. Botswana Tourism Board distributed hardcopies of its Discover Botswana magazine.

The ITB Asia booth took the opportunity to declare ITB Berlin marks 50th Anniversary of travel show expertise in 2016. The Maldives will be the Official Partner Country of ITB Berlin 2016. In partnership with ITB Berlin, Maldives Tourism & PR Corporation will launch and market to the world "365 Days of Free Holidays in Maldives", "100 Islands in 30 Days", "Mega Wedding" packages, market Free Diving Competition and Photo Competition, to mark Visit Maldives 2016.

ITB Asia 2015 ends on 23 October with a promise to include new features such as a Destination Showcase next year where destinations can highlight their unique offerings to the attendees. Finland is the Official Partner Country of ITB Asia 2016.

The ninth edition of ITB Asia takes place at Sands Expo & Convention Centre from 19 to 21 October 2016 while the tenth edition of the international travel market will be from 25 to 27 October 2017.