Initial ITB Asia Tradeshow to Focus on Web

Online travel sales in Asia will grow about 90 percent over the next 10 years, according to industry experts, with China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Vietnam leading the way.

According to exhibitors of the inaugural ITB Asia event, the new B2B travel trade show to be held in Singapore, Oct. 22 to 24, a majority of the cyber sales are expected to come from current customers aged up to 25 as they gain more spending power over the next decade. According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, regional tourism is expected to soar with nearly 500 million visitors arriving by 2010, generating $4.6 trillion in revenue.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and global management consultancy, Accenture, expect the hospitality industry to be worth $15 trillion in the next 10 years. ITB Asia will have a Travel Technology pavilion and delegates are also being offered preferential rates to attend the Web in Travel technology event, which takes place Oct. 21 and 22, also in Suntec Singapore.

The key theme is how technology will change communication and travel in the future. ITB Asia is organized by Messe Berlin (Singapore) Pte Ltd in conjunction with Singapore Tourism Board. The event will feature up to 500 exhibiting companies from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, covering not only the leisure market, but also corporate and MICE travel.

Exhibitors from every sector of the industry, including destinations, airlines and airports, hotels & resorts, theme parks & attractions, inbound tour operators, inbound DMCs, cruise lines, spas, venues, other meeting facilities and travel technology companies are all expected to attend.