Organisers of the the Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) welcomed more longhaul delegates this year as the event – which took place from November 4-7 – held its 30th edition at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Over 950 exhibitors from over 60 countries took part over the four days while the one-day B2B travel mart drew 104 buyers from 28 countries.
Organisers of the the Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) welcomed more longhaul delegates this year as the event – which took place from November 4-7 – held its 30th edition at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Over 950 exhibitors from over 60 countries took part over the four days while the one-day B2B travel mart drew 104 buyers from 28 countries.
Taipei ITF’s chairman Cherng-Tyan Su said: “Our goal is to be more international and to attract more countries to choose ITF as one of the must-attend travel fairs. In order to accomplish this, we have expanded the scale of our travel mart.
“We have opened up the type of people who can join this event. Instead of inviting just exhibitors, we have invited our local inbound tour operators to register as sellers who are non-exhibitors, thus creating more business dynamics.”
New markets this year include Russia and India, while returning longhaul buyers from Brazil, France, Germany and Dubai also took part.
First time buyer Brittany Tanner, an account executive from Canada’s Journeys of Discovery, said: “I came to make new contacts and to find more tour products. Our clients are interested in sightseeing and in local experiences and activities. We try to promote it as a stopover when travelling to China.”
As well, Tommy Huang from Brazil-based Gladtur is on the lookout for suppliers to introduce cycling tours in Taiwan for his clientele. “Taiwan is only a stopover destination for our clients as it’s less popular when compared to China, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. However, a representative was appointed in March to promote the destination to Brazilians,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, for Habib Malik, senior sales executive at Sharijah National Travel and Tourist Agency in the UAE, products that cater to families and availability of halal offerings are key.
“Our clients travel with family every year. It’s typical to have three to four families travelling together and they enjoy natural beauty and culture,” he said, adding that making Taiwan a mono destination is on his agenda.
Doing the same is Welcome in Asia’s general manager Andrea Capellino, who said: “Taiwan can be a very good destination if you know how to sell. We want to open up this market by combining it with China trips, but since I arrived, I realised that it can be a mono destination to spend 7-8 nights, thanks to the diversity of offers here.”
