ETW Staff – Kolkata
Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) Kolkata, was recently organised at Netaji Indoor Stadium and the adjacent Khudiram Anushilan Kendra. The event was inaugurated by Goutam Deb, Tourism Minister, Government of West Bengal. TTF, which is India’s oldest and largest travel trade show, is now organised in nine cities annually. Commenting on the occasion, Deb said, “I am given to understand that TTF is India’s leading and pioneering travel mart. I am happy to note that this initiative originated in Kolkata over 25 years ago and that West Bengal Tourism has been closely associated with and participates in it in a big way at Kolkata and at many locations over the years.”
A R Bardhan, principal secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal, was also present on the occasion. With over 315 exhibitors from nine countries and 26 Indian states and union territories, the three-day event brought together state tourism boards, national tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators, travel agents, online travel companies, railways, cruises and other travel organisations under one roof.
Isra Stapanaseth, director, Tourism Authority of Thailand – New Delhi, stated, “Our focus at TTF was to meet and engage with the travel trade from East India and introduce new properties, attractions and destinations in Thailand which they could further promote and sell to their clients.”
“Our focus in TTF editions was to communicate fresh updates about the destinations to the market to streamline positive message,” commented Ujjwala Dali, officiating director – tourism marketing and promotion, Nepal Tourism Board.
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir were the partner states for the event. Whereas, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were the feature states. Bangladesh and Nepal participated as the partner countries. Thailand was present as the feature country.
The TTF series is supported by India Tourism, which had also participated in TTF Kolkata as in the past. Important exhibitors included Bodoland Tourism, Travstarz, Nicco Parks & Resorts, Vivada Corporations, IRCTC among others.
Highlighting the importance of TTF Kolkata, Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and CEO, Fairfest Media (the organiser of TTF), stated, “In a continent sized country like India, the regional markets for domestic and outbound tourism are so strong that they needed their own travel trade shows. Fairfest Media pioneered the concept with the TTF shows way back in 1989, when there was no such show in the country. Needless to mention the huge importance of Kolkata as a source market and gateway to the Eastern India, those in travel business know it too well.”
Fairfest Media organises TTF-branded shows every year in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune followed by Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi.