ITB Asia to focus on future of travel

Having cemented its status as ‘Asia’s Leading Travel Trade Show’, the 10th ITB Asia 2017 will focus on artificial intelligence and OTAs as well as dedicated days for corporate and MICE participants.

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ITB Asia 2017 is expected to top the success of last year’s ITB Asia, where almost 900 buyers attended the show, leading to a 1:1 ratio between exhibitors and buyers. Whilst over 50 per cent of buyers signed deals with exhibitors after the event, 43 per cent of the attending buyers had the purchasing power of $500K – $1m. Also, 85.7 per cent of the attending buyers were direct decision makers in ITB Asia 2016.

In 2017, under the conference theme ‘The Future of Travel’, ITB Asia will showcase an extensive programme of key presentations and discussions by industry heavyweights from the travel and tourism sector which would include global brand names as well as promising travel start-ups. “We are proud to have put together such a rich and diverse conference programme, which is only possible with the continued support from the global travel industry. This is a testament to the show’s expanding role as an important platform to bring all the different stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector together. We believe everyone attending this year’s show will enjoy and benefit from engaging with the influential and exciting speakers on the most current and pressing topics in the industry,” said Katrina Leung, Executive Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB Asia.

Artificial Intelligence and how Online Travel Agents (OTAs) are transforming travel through technology, particularly in Korea, Japan and India will be the focus of ITB Asia 2017. This year, the show will feature its first cruise panel. The lineup of panellists would include companies such as SkySea Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Princess Cruises, Carnival Asia and Royal Caribbean Cruises who will discuss the rise of cruise in Asia Pacific and the growing market and opportunities. ITB Asia will also for the first time, launch an innovation travel tech track hosted by Israeli start-up InnoVel that will connect travel companies with cutting-edge start-ups. The cross haring is designed to address concrete pains in areas such as revenue management, customer engagement, online marketing and more. To reflect the strong support for Corporate and MICE participants at ITB Asia, the show will see its first-ever Corporate Day on October 26. Following the success and launch in 2016, MICE Day will return for the second edition in 2017 on October 25.

“We believe everyone attending this year’s show will enjoy and benefit from engaging with the influential and exciting speakers on the most current and pressing topics in the industry” – Katrina Leung Executive Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB Asia