by Dominic Bonfert
The third edition of Goa International Travel Mart (GITM) 2014 at Dr. Shyam Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at Taleigaon. The event was inaugurated by His Excellency, Governor of Goa, Shri. Bharat Vir Wanchoo in presence of Shri RK Srivastava IAS, Principal Secretary (Tourism).The prestigious B2B event brought together travel companies, hoteliers, State Tourism Boards and other leisure enterprises under one roof to showcase the tourism investment potential in the state.
There was also a knowledge session held at the Marriott Hotel in Goa with speakers from the industry discussing on various topics. The first panel discussion during the knowledge session was on ‘‘Reinventing Goa as a premier investment and tourist destination in an ecologically aware world’ and was moderated by Ajay Prakash, Immediate Past President Tafi & Chief Executive, Nomad Travels. The speakers were Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation & Director Tourism, Government of Goa; Nandini Sahai, Director, The International Centre, Goa; Kurapati D Row, Past President, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa and Ralph De Souza, Chairman, The De Souza Group.

The second session was on ‘Image building through out-of-the-box marketing concepts for private & Government sector’. The speakers Sachin Nene, Area Manager- India, Air Arabia; Kiran Yadav, Chairman & Managing Director; Success Try Angles; Prof. Kapil Kumar, Director, School of Tourism and Hospitality Services Management, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi and the discussion was moderated by Carl Vaz, Chairman & CEO, Charson Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.

Some of the highlights of GITM 2014 are as follows:
3rd and Biggest ever edition of ‘Goa International Travel Mart’: Most important congregation of the Travel Trade in the region.
Supported by all major Tour Operator Association such as IATO – ‘Indian Association of Tour Operators’, ADTOI – Assc. of Domestic Tour Operators Association of India, ATOAI – Adventure Tour Operators Association of India, Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) etc.
Over 275 Hosted Buyers and media from over 30 countries. Biggest ever Inbound Travel Event in the country. More than 5800 schedule B2B appointments.
100 Exhibitors from India from over 15 diverse tourism segments. Biggest congregation of Hotels & Resorts from Goa

Key Partners:
Supported by India Tourism
Hospitality partners include: Casino Pride, Pride – Sun Village, LPK water front (India’s first super club), Novotel Resorts, Azzure by spree hotels, Varando do Mar
Associate Hotel Partner – Orritel Hotel
Other prominent participants include Grand Hyatt, Alcon Victor Group (Dona Silvia, Radisson blue), Ramada Caravela Beach resort, Fortune Select, Country inn & suites, Marina Daurado, Bogmallo Beach Resort, Double Tree By Hilton, Neelam the Grand, Starwood Hotels
Leading Tour operators include Thomas cook, LPTI, Global Nomads (Mice), Caper travels, Minar group
Medical Tourism – Manipal Hospital, Alcon (Apollo) Victor group
Knowledge Partner: Charson Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.,

HOSTED BUYERS:
The event hosted various source countries such as Netherlands, Kingdom of Bahrain, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, German, Russia, Greece, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UAE, UK, USA, South Africa, etc

Also participating in the event 25 International travel trade media from over 20 countries, and 35 domestic travel trade media from all over India. This spectacular travel-trade business platform was hosting 275 Buyers from all over India with more than 2500 trade buyers. The fact that 5800 appointments have been scheduled in over 2 days proves the fact that the Goa International Travel Mart is this year’s most awaited event.

The event has value additions for international buyers like FAM Trips that have been arranged to give them a glimpse of the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of Goa and the potential it holds. Add to the mix, prestigious networking dinners at top venues to encourage rewarding interactions and the experience becomes truly unforgettable!

EVENT PROFILE:
The main aim behind GITM 2014 is to serve as a platform for face-to-face networking among travel-trade, hoteliers and other stakeholders from Goa with leading travel agents from India and abroad. GITM will also reach out to State Tourism Board, District Tourism Centres, Trade Associations/ National Travel Organizations, Airlines, Travel Agents & Tour Operators, Hotels & Resorts, Adventure Tour Operators, Spice Plantations, Casinos etc.

What makes the event different from the others of its kind, are the valuable knowledge sessions with eminent speakers from the airline & hospitality industry. Aimed at achieving the vision of ‘Positioning Goa as India’s premier leisure destination towards 2020’ these one-day, interactive conclaves will have the best speakers endowing the audience with their experience and knowledge.

Panel discussions on ‘Reinventing Goa as a premier investment and tourist destination in an ecologically aware world’ followed and breathe new energy into the event. Another panel discussion on “Image building through out-of-the-box marketing concepts for private & Government sector” provide a new insight into the field of travel-trade.

Apart from showcasing the tourism investment opportunities and potential in Goa, this event also served as a platform to promote various facets of Goa that reflect the multi-dimensional facets of the state. A special Goa Pavilion was created to showcase festivals and nightlife, beaches, heritage trails, UNESCO Heritage sites, Wild life, Medical tourism, Monsoon tourism, MICE, Wedding Destination, Spice Farms and Adventure. Elements like promotion and conservation of heritage, arts, crafts, endorsement of hinterland tourism, exhibiting the state’s rich culture and heritage wasl also be incorporated.

Goa International Travel Mart is now a must attend yearly event for the tourism-industry of India to sell this beautiful country to the world. Not only the local and regional exhibitors and Buyers , also the international buyers and media have seen the GTM as a powerful tool to promote the tourism to Goa.

Alica Purple Events & Activations – A division of Alica Purple Advertising Pvt Ltd is a 12 year old professionally managed company in Integrated Communications, Events & Activations. Having 7 years of experience in the tourism sector and catering to all round communications like exhibitions, events, roadshows and travel marts.
In addition to Goa Tourism and GTDC, Alica Purple is also currently working with several tourism boards like Chhattisgarh Tourism, RTDC, BSTDC, Bihar Tourism etc.

Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd.,’ is India’s leading Travel event Company having conceptualized and established brands for the Indian travel and tourism industry such as ‘India International Travel Mart’ – India’s premier Travel and Tourism Exhibition and ‘Outbound Travel Roadshow’ – India’s only Multi – Destination Buyer – Seller Meet & ‘Business Travel & Meetings Expo’ – The Corporate Travel, Incentive and Conference Exhibition’. Sphere Travelmedia also has been managing the ‘Gujarat Travel Mart’ for the Govt. of Gujarat since 2010.