Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam is serving as host to Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF). The three-day TTF Chennai, held from January 6 to 8, will see 120 national and international participants. This year, the show has grown by 25 per cent over last year, indicating that even post-demonetisation, the travel industry is anticipating growth and positive trends.
Participants from six countries and 20 Indian states and union territories are participating in the trade show. These include state tourism boards, national tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators and travel agents, online travel companies, railways, cruises and other travel marketers.
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are the partner states for the event, whereas Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar are the feature states.
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, is participating at TTF Chennai as the partner airline. “With the most recent expansion into India, SriLankan Airlines now operates to 11 cities in India with a weekly frequency of 106 flights,” said S P Mohan, manager for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
TTF Chennai is also having participation from Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Whereas country representations at Chennai include Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
First half of the show (from Friday to Saturday till 2 pm) is reserved for the travel trade, after which it is open for all (from Saturday afternoon till Sunday evening). The TTF Series is supported by India Tourism, which is also participating in TTF Chennai as in the past.
Besides states and country representations, other exhibitors include India B2B Solutions, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Southern Travels, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Tamara Coorg, Itzcash and more.
To enhance and showcase their respective offerings, participating states and countries at TTF Chennai will also present cultural events and marketing presentations to trade visitors and the media.
Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and CEO, Fairfest Media (organiser of TTF), commented, “TTF Chennai provides an important opportunity to be present in a hugely strategic market of South India. The trade show, now in its 28th year, has resulted in creating a firm and strong network for the travel industry to explore the full potential and opportunities in domestic and outbound travel.”
Immediately after Chennai, TTF will take place in the subsequent weekend in Bengaluru (January 13-15). TTF is supported by Incredible India, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) and SKAL.
Fairfest Media is also a member of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).