For the ITB Asia, 20-22 Oct 2010, we interviewed Nino Grüttke, Executive Director ITB Asia, which is organized by Messe Berlin, Germany:
1. Tourism-Insider: How many exhibitors will be attending your show and how many buyers?
Nino Grüttke: ITB Asia 2009: 679 exhibiting organizations, 553 invited buyers, a total of 6,149 attendees.
2. Tourism-Insider: When was your tradeshow launched and how many installments have there been?
Nino Grüttke: ITB Asia started in 2008, this year we will see the 3rd edition.
3. Tourism-Insider: In the months of September and October we have many similar tradeshows in Asia. This costs organizers as well as buyers and exhibitors a lot of money and time. Just to name a few important shows:
- China Guilin International Tourism Expo in Guangxi, China on September 3-5, 2010
- Thailand Travel Mart Plus in Bangkok on September 8-10, 2010
- PATA Travel Mart at the Venetian Macao in Macau on September 14-17, 2010
- International Travel Expo (ITE) in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam on September 30-October 2, 2010
- IT&CMA in Bangkok, Thailand on October 5-7, 2010
- TIME 2010 in Lombok, Indonesia in the second week of October 2010
- ITB Asia in Singapore on October 20-22, 2010
Besides these Asian events there are also important tradeshows in other parts of the world.
What can you suggest to buyers and exhibitors?
Nino Grüttke: The ITB brand is highly respected globally. The amount of travel exhibitions demonstrates the many business opportunities in Asia. Having a 44-year-experience with ITB Berlin, the World’s leading travel trade show, many exhibitors asked Messe Berlin to run a show in Asia. Being the youngest but at the same time one of the largest trade shows in the region, ITB Asia connects the Asian market with travel suppliers all round the world.
ITB Asia is unique in that it is the only show that positions Asia as the source market for global travel products in three sectors – leisure, MICE and corporate travel.
ITB Asia offers an ideal fixed costs ratio compared to the volume of business initiated measured against the number of buyers (cost per contact) and ideal services and infrastructure. Buyers and exhibitors should analyse these factors and of course take into account the quality of buyers attending the show.
4.Tourism-Insider: Why should buyers and exhibitors choose your show? What is your USP?
Nino Grüttke: We offer a well-diversified show (MICE, leisure, corporate, TT); Singapore has great infrastructure; we have launched Association Day this year and Messe Berlin has 44 years of ITB experience.
ITB Asia is conceived to facilitate dialogue and business between travel buyers from Asia and service providers from around the world. Exhibitors from every sector of the industry, including destinations, airlines and airports, hotels and resorts, theme parks and attractions, inbound tour operators, inbound DMCs, cruise lines, spas, venues, other meeting facilities and travel technology companies are all in attendance at ITB Asia. It is a premium brand and it is the leading marketplace for the Asian travel trade.
5. Tourism-Insider: Besides the time-related problem, we always see another problem during our visits to the shows. This is not an Asian problem, in our opinion, but a worldwide one. How do you choose a person for the Hosted Buyer status? You as organizer spend a lot of money on these invited guests – how do you ensure the productivity?
Nino Grüttke: ITB Asia focuses on quality over quantity. First, buyers will only be allowed to register during three periods: 12 to 30 April, 3 to 21 May, and 5 to 23 July. Only allowing three periods of registration will allow us to better control the geographical and sector mix of buyers.
After the first and second round of registrations, Messe Berlin (Singapore) will still be able to adjust the specifications of their wished-for buyers before opening the third period of registration. The aim is to ensure that the buyer profile is properly balanced.
Second, ITB Asia will use a social media-like networking and referral approach. Buyers with a strong track record will be able to recommend other buyers to be invited by ITB Asia. It works like a job recommendation. The recommender’s own reputation sticks to the recommended person. Buyers therefore become partners in increasing the show’s quality.
Third, exhibitors will be encouraged to nominate buyers. Once approved, these buyers will be invited by Messe Berlin (Singapore) on behalf of the exhibitor.
Buyers with an excellent track record at the previous two ITB Asia shows will be invited again this year.
6. Tourism-Insider: How can your global media partners support you in this case?
Global media partners contribute to an international coverage for ITB Asia and are therefore vital for the show.
Thank you for your time Mr. Grüttke!
