OTM Mumbai the first major International Travel Tradeshow to promote tourism post-pandemic
The Voice of Chandigarh News| Travel Trade Reporter:
OTM Mumbai is being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre from March 14th to 16th, 2022. Organised after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the show will witness 600+ exhibitors from over 20 countries, 29 Indian States, and 7 Union Territories. It will be the first international travel trade show since the pandemic.
“Tourism and Hospitality businesses form about a tenth of national incomes and workforces globally. It was hugely affected in the last two years, crushing down a huge number of units due to lockdowns and restrictions. The worst seems to be over and we see a good sign of recovery. We are delighted to host OTM Mumbai, the first international travel trade show post-pandemic”, says Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Ltd. (Organiser of OTM)
The 3-day event will bring together all destinations that are open including International Tourism Boards, National, and State Tourism Boards, Hotels & Resorts, Airlines, Destination Management Companies, MICE, Wedding Planners and Film Producers under one roof. The dignitaries at the inaugural session will include Tourism Ministers, High Commissioners, Consul Generals, Secretaries, and Heads of various Tourism Boards.
Maldives Tourism is coming back to Mumbai after just a few months, reconfirming their commitment to the Indian market, and will be the Partner Country of the show. Azerbaijan Tourism Board and Nepal Tourism Board too are participating as Partner Countries of OTM 2022. Qatar Tourism, Korea Tourism Organization, Singapore Tourism Board and the Department of Tourism of Philippines are the Feature Countries of the event, bringing together their travel suppliers, airlines and hospitality partners to network with the Indian travel trade.
Visit Brussels, Visit Utah and Seychelles will also be showcased at the event. International DMCs, Hotels, Tour Operators will represent Greece, Dubai, France, Madagascar, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, among others.
OTM 2022 will host State Tourism Boards in a big way for the revival of travel within India, including official participation from Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Other destinations like Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Manipur, Punjab, Sikkim, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Puducherry and Telangana will be represented through their private stakeholders.
The event is supported by ‘Incredible India’ and the Ministry of Tourism, who have a pavilion, along with private stakeholders, showcasing multiple initiatives like Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Dekho Apna Desh etc.
OTM Forum, a knowledge-sharing platform, will bring together India and Asia’s most influential travel leaders on one stage. Panel discussions, master classes, and workshops are conducted by top-level Executives from industry leaders and C-suite executives from over 100 top brands including Amadeus, Booking.com, Paypal, Twitter, Hilton, BCD and many more.
The broad theme of the OTM is ‘Restart, Rebuild and Rejuvenate Travel & Tourism Economy’. There will be panel discussions on interesting topics such as Adapting and innovating to meet post-pandemic customer travel preferences; the Importance of India-Outbound in post pandemic market recovery; Post-covid Luxury: top trends that will define hospitality; The Future of the MICE industry; The rise of Women-focused tours: safety, employment and opportunities; Travel Blogging under the new normal… and many more.
“With a potential of 29 million outbound trips by 2025, the Indian market is specially lucrative in the post-pandemic phase when many traditional markets like China may still be out of bounds due to restrictions owing to the ‘Zero-Covid’ strategy. With the end of the pandemic already visible in India, there is a significant revival in the domestic market while international travel is likely to rebound in the later part of 2022”, according to the organisers of OTM.
The Indian travel market is at its inflection point and is one of the fastest-growing in the world. By 2025, a report by Expedia expects 13.9 million leisure departures from India, leading to 19.4 million Indian visitor arrivals overseas, with a major contribution from Tier II and Tier III cities. Business travel accounts for 26% of the outbound trips, making India one of the largest business travel markets globally. As per reports, the Indian outbound tourism market is estimated to surpass 42 Billion USD by 2024 and will exceed US$ 45 Billion by 2025.
Visit: https://otm.co.in
OTM/Fairfest Media has been spearheading the campaign to open up the travel and tourism sector, with open letters to government departments at the Centre, and in States, and to private industry, and also petitions in courts. The positive results are there to see, with cross-border travel fully open now within India.
