Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007 - (Page 20)

I business EXHIBITIONS ITTFA EXHIBITIONS CALENDAR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TRADE FAIRS ASSOCIATION 3 NEW EUROPEAN EXHIBITORS SHOWCASE AT WTM 2007 Three key European destinations and operators are looking towards World Travel Market (WTM) to help them expand their business. Bosnia and Herzegovina is vowing to shake off its troubled past; Gibraltar believes a thawing in relations will transform its tourism outlook; and Italian company MSC Cruises intends to make the most of Europe’s cruising boom. All will exhibit at the WTM (12 – 15 November, London). The event expects over 45,000 delegates with a massive exhibiting contingent from both Western and Eastern Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina makes its appearance as part of a concerted drive to attract tourists. Many potential visitors have a negative view of the destination due to its bitter civil war of the 1990s. Fiona Jeffery, Managing Director of WTM, said: “B&H’s Tourism Association’s own research, conducted among 56 operators across Europe, the US and Canada, revealed the majority were unaware of its main selling points. Many still had concerns about the safety of travel in Bosnia and Herzegovina – despite the war having ended more than a decade ago! B&H’s appearance at World Travel Market is a strategic move to overcome these profile problems.” Culture, nature and historical attractions will be top of the list for the B&H delegation keen to sell the nation as Europe’s ‘hidden secret’. Another European destination returns to WTM this year – Gibraltar, which is situated at the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Despite Gibraltar’s sovereignty being a long-held issue for the UK and Spain, government officials believe a significant thawing in relations, with the signing of the Cordoba agreement, will dramatically improve tourism performance. This agreement allows Spanish flights to fly direct to the British Overseas Territory (previously visitors from Spain were routed via London) and includes Gibraltar in European aviation regulations, thus allowing more European carriers to operate in the territory and opening up Gibraltar to a new international audience. Significant financial resources will be outlaid to redevelop Gibraltar’s airport and improve its hotel and leisure infrastructure. MSC Cruises CIS – Russia 3-5 October 2007 www.cistravelmarket.com Finally, MSC Cruises is making its first port of call at WTM this year, intent on exploiting the phenomenal growth in cruising. MSC currently boasts a fleet of eight ships, expects to add two more in 2008 and a further two by 2010. “Cruising continues to ride a wave of unprecedented passenger growth”, said Jeffery. MSC UK Managing Director Claudia Baino said the operator would have senior staff in attendance at the event in an effort to meet as many trade representatives as possible. “The trade is our target for WTM – we want to work with operators who take allocations and agents who can sell our fly-cruises. “We know we don’t have the brand awareness of some of the other cruise lines. We offer something very different and that is what we will be there to sell.” Baino believes MSC is ideally placed to exploit the huge growth in the European cruise market, especially in the UK, as much of its capacity is in the Mediterranean year round. UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MARKET – Ukraine 11-13 October 2007 www.autoexpo.ua TTG Incontri – Italy 12-14 October 2007 www.travetradeitalia.com PHILOXENIA – Greece 1-4 November 2007 www.helexpo.gr WTM - U.K. 12-15 November 2007 www.wtm.com EIBTM – Spain 27-29 November 2007 www.reedtravelexhibitions.com Contact G w.walker@ittfa.org G www.ittfa.org Exhibition News Where the travel business is happening UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL MARKET KIEV UKRAINE 11 - 13 OCTOBER 2007 next month TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE Incontri event, being held in Rimini, Italy, between the 12th – 14th October, will include national and international tourist organizations, tour operators, airlines, tourist attractions, service companies, hotel/accommodation, technology and telecommunications companies, car rental, cruise/ferry services, railways, coach operators and trade associations. Over 2300 companies exhibited at this event in 2006, which welcomed 29,300 visitors and is seen as a key indicator of sector’s trends. Opening hours are 9am to 6.30pm on the 12th and 13th of October and on between 9am – 1pm on the 14th. Participants and invitees to the event are trade only. www.travetradeitalia.com Tour operators, travel agencies, national and regional tourist associations and bodies, airlines, cruise/ ferry services, touring business, insurance services, holiday and recreation centres, hotels, amusement centres, hotel accommodation, technologies and infrastructure, clubs, specialist literature and specialist media will be among the participants in the 14th annual Ukraine International Travel Market. The event will be held at the Autoexpo Exhibition premises in Kiev, Ukraine. Events on 11th Oct will include a press conference, seminars and 20 presentations of countries and participating companies. There will also be a photographic presentation of various tourism destinations of the world. Additional events on 12th and 13th Oct will include business meetings and show & quiz programmes at participants’ stands. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm each day. Events on the 11th Oct are open to press and specialists only, however the public are invited to attend the exhibition on the 12th and 13th upon payment of the $4 entrance fee. www.autoexpo.ua DESTINATIONS Mexico BUSINESS SPECIAL FOCUS TTG INCONTRI RIMINI, ITALY 12 – 14 OCTOBER 2007 Cruise Participants in the 45th annual TTG TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE September 2007 http://www.cistravelmarket.com http://www.autoexpo.ua http://www.traveltradeitalia.com http://www.helexpo.gr http://www.wtm.com http://www.reedtravelexhibitions.com http://www.ittfa.org http://www.autoexpo.ua http://www.traveltradeitalia.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007

Cover&Contents
NEWS
- INAUGURATION OF ITB ASIA
- INAUGURATION OF ITB ASIA TWICE DAILY
- WTM TO HOST SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
INTERVIEW: Ziad Tantawy
DESTINATIONS: Egypt
BUSINESS
- Spas & Wellness
- Golf
- Exhibitions

Travel News Europe - #76 - September 2007