ASTA, Messe Berlin to Operate TheTradeShow

ASTA and Messe Berlin, owner of the ITB trade fair, signed a letter of intent here to create a business partnership to market and operate TheTradeShow, the event designed by ASTA as a successor to the trade show portion of the ASTA World Travel Congress.

The first TheTradeShow will be staged in Orlando in September next year.

The notion of a travel mart along the lines of ITB or London´s World Travel Market has been tried and has failed twice in North America.

When asked why this project should not also face the same fate, Bill Maloney, ASTA executive vice president and COO, said there are crucial differences. He said one key is “critical mass, and ASTA has critical mass and it has a history” based on its years of operating a travel show.

Attendees need sufficient reasons to come to the show, Maloney continued, noting that TheTradeShow will encompass more than the typical event of its type. It will also host ASTA´s annual meeting, plus the annual meeting of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents and the Travel Institute´s annual Forum.

TheTradeShow also is being planned with a number of other strategic partners: Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, Cruise Lines International Association, International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, National Tour Association, Travel Industry Association of America, the U.S. Tour Operators Association and USA Today.