by Reinhold Hohler

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has been named Forbes Asia’s Businessman of the Year. Fernandes is the first Malaysian and Southeast Asian to receive the award. The hugely popular icon of aviation is credited for democratizing air travel in the region and for growing a Malaysian company into a highly successful global brand. Forbes Asia’s editor, Tim Ferguson, said in a press release, “The competition was tough, including from leaders of Forbes Asia’s Fabulous 50 companies.

This year´s 22nd EIBTM has attracted 3,125 exhibiting companies from over 90 countries and created three days packed with non-stop meetings and activities.  Having launched many new features, created a record 59 professional education sessions and held over 100 events in and around the show, the objective for organisers Reed Travel Exhibitions has been to drive business and deliver value for all those attending the event.

Since 2007, close to fifty UNWTO Volunteers have been working on tourism development projects around the world to make a difference to the lives of local communities. As the world celebrates the United Nations International Volunteers Day (5 December), UNWTO is proud to be taking an active role in maximizing tourism’s contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through its Volunteers Programme.

At its recent awards ceremony, which also celebrated its 30 years of existence, EXSA gave Indaba its award for the best trade exhibition in South Africa in the over 12 000 square metres category for 2010. “Winning this award from EXSA is another feather in our cap coming so soon after we had won the contract for Indaba from SA Tourism. It confirms the calibre and quality of the team which has managed Indaba for the past few years. We are particularly proud that, as a young and relatively new, small player in the exhibitions industry

The winners of the EIBTM Stand Awards were presented  on the second day of EIBTM (www.eibtm.com).
As a new feature to the show this year, the EIBTM Stand Awards were created to recognise and acknowledge the brightest, busiest and best stands at this year’s show. There were eight categories overall, scored by independent judges who visited the stands before selecting the best in each category. One award was voted by Hosted Buyers during their first day at the show.

Coinciding with AIBTM 2011, the living legends of rock, U2, will be playing at the M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, on June 22nd as part of their global 360° Tour. Reed Travel Exhibitions and their partners Visit Baltimore, are delighted to announce that as a special “feature” of the inaugural AIBTM they will be making available through various promotional methods, more than 1000 tickets to both exhibitors and Hosted Buyers.