TravTalk India Online Magazine
The attendees of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar opined that the exhibition is most relevant to network with fellow industry partners and at the most generate some leads to follow up later.
Ankita Saxena
Arun Khanna, Director, Colonel’s Retreat
Initially, I was a little hesitant about our participation in GITB. However, after meeting various buyers at the show on the first day, we can successfully conclude that it was a good show. For us, the quality of the show can be determined by the presence of relevant buyers for our business. We excel in personalised services and non-group travellers; the buyers we received were interested in just that, which works for us.
B R Achuta, Senior Vice President—Operations, Windflower Resort & Spa
This is a very useful platform for us and we saw some genuine buyers this year. We felt that over the years, GITB has not changed much, but in this year’s edition, there was an increase in the number of foreign buyers. The quality of meetings was much better than previous years, and we were very happy to receive queries from newer markets. Some of the buyers from countries like Brazil showed interest in our products which was very encouraging.
Digraj Singh Shekhawat, Director, Shapura Hotels
This year’s edition of GITB has been much better than the previous one. The number of foreign buyers increased this year and the quality of queries from buyers has become more product specific. We have been participating in this show since its inception and I feel that this year, the buyers are filtered not only based on the source markets, but also according to the product requirement. We are now pitching into the luxury heritage segment and Australia and New Zealand are our new markets.
Sowmya Rao Vijamohan, Partner, RARE India
At GITB this year, we received good queries from some of the new clients. The buyers who came for meetings were mostly those who were just starting off with selling India as a destination and particularly seeking the experiential segment of travel. The point of these exhibitions is to meet newer buyers even if they belong to the popular source markets. As a representation company, our main purpose is brand building and lead generation so that some of these queries convert into actual business when we follow-up with the DMCs.
Ashish Vohra, Founder and CEO, Justa Hotels and Resorts
This year, the show was much more positive as compared to last year. The fact that there are so many buyers at the show and interest has been evoked for India as a destination, is a very positive sign for the future. Such shows put a name and face together for further business. Lead time of doing business is shrinking and the overall buying behavior is also changing. The speed and cycle of doing business is much faster nowadays. Business may or may not close here since tourism is a composite product and results may be visible after a certain time.
Shruti Pandey, Founder, Synergi Hospitality
I feel that over the years nothing much has changed at GITB. Just like last year the Day 1 of the show promised good meetings and we met some very good clients who were interested in the product and service we offered. Some of the clients were just enquiring and gathering information which is characteristic of any exhibition. I feel GITB will continue to remain relevant for travel trade industry as this is one platform that promises business leads and upon follow-up also gets concrete closure.
