DRMumbai: GPS, India’s premier travel trade roadshow for Tier II and III markets, continued their successful run in July with the Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Lucknow editions concluding as planned. GPS Chandigarh was held from July 5 to 7 at The Lalit; GPS Ahmedabad from July 12 to 14 at Courtyard Marriott; and GPS Lucknow from July 19 to 21 at Hyatt Regency.
The Lucknow leg marked Global Panorama Showcase’s entry into Uttar Pradesh (UP) and the aim was to reach out to not just the UP market but adjoining regions like Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkand.
“As always there were about 75-plus exhibitors and not less than 900 registered visitors per event. We have a fixed format and the event ran over a 3-day period with first day set aside exclusively for product presentations and education, and the remaining two days for B2B meetings. The exhibitors were a mix of tourism boards, airlines, DMCs and ancillary services related to the travel trade,” informed Rishiraj Singh Anand, Joint Managing Director, GPS.
Ahmedabad, the first city where ‘GPS on the Move’ was conducted many years ago witnessed a whopping 14,000 B2B meetings. Bijalben Patel, Mayor, Ahmedabad, inaugurated the show and thanked the tourism industry for bolstering the city’s economy. Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions (organisers of WTM London, WTM Africa and ATM Dubai), inaugurated the B2B meetings on Day 2.
Around 75-plus exhibitors and 900 registered visitors participated per event which saw a mix of tourism boards, airlines, DMCs and ancillary services related to the travel trade
“GPS provides tremendous value through education and networking by leveraging people power. Going paperless is a fantastic initiative,” said Press. CA Manish Gadia, GMJ & Co. presented a session on GST, simplifying the subject and addressing many concerns of the travel trade. Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI, was also present.
GPS Chandigarh registered over 8000 B2B meetings. Neeta Raina, Regional Sales Manager, Fortune ITC Hotels, said, “Though it’s a first for me, Fortune ITC Hotels has participated in earlier editions of GPS. The show has delivered far more than I expected. There were over 600 agents from the local market and it was a great opportunity to connect. The paperless approach of GPS is a great thought. The way the App allows information sharing and connecting is so forward thinking.”
At the Lucknow leg of GPS, Amigo Travels, Genting Cruise Lines, UK VI/Visit Britain, Interglobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), Saraaj Enterprises (training partner of EduX), Singapore Airlines/SilkAir, TrawellTag Cover-More, and GMJ & Co. made presentations. Renowned trainer Aman Kaushik spoke about ‘business enhancement with AI (Artificial Intelligence)’. CA Binti Bhatt from GMJ & Co. presented a session on ‘Turning GST into an Advantage’. TrawellTag Cover-More’s ‘I Pledge for Safe Travel’ campaign was presented across all the three locations and received a splendid response.
“The participants have understood and accepted that we can save them a lot of time and money while helping them market their products. The App provides immediate access to the event; the attendees can stay connected throughout the year, interact and be up-to-date about new business opportunities,” said Tanushka Kaur Anand, Executive Director, GPS.
“Moving forward, we can also have virtual meetings at GPS, wherein the exhibitors can connect and interact with attendees without being physically present. We believe in technological innovation and look forward to building an event platform where a person can just walk in with a smart phone or a tablet and interact through the App.”
GPS Kolkata, Kochi, Pune in August
The Kolkata edition has been scheduled from August 2 to 4 at The Lalit Great Eastern; Kochi from August 9 to 11 at Le Meridien and Pune from August 23 to 25 at JW Marriott. Presentations by Amigo Travels, Singapore Airlines/SilkAir, Interglobe Technology Quotient (ITQ), Genting Cruise Lines and GMJ & Co. have been scheduled. Over 150-plus products will be on display at each GPS event and about 750 registered visitors are expected in each city.
“GPS over the years has made its name in the travel industry as a premium B2B show in the Tier II and Tier III markets,” says Raju Akolkar, CEO, GPS. “We are different from the other exhibitions as we present ourselves as the B2B platform to empower and educate the travel fraternity which in turn helps the travel agents to get connected to the suppliers – tourism boards, cruise liners, airlines, DMCs, travel insurance providers etc,” he says.
GPS’ loyalty club 10X is the new buzz in the buyer community with huge benefits to reap and ‘Eco Connect’ is a low cost module for the sellers who want to be on-board but need to experience it at a lower cost. “10X is going to be the match winner this year with members benefitting from registration at GPS events and participation in our Educational Destination Workshops (EDWIN) at discounted prices,” says a confident Madhu Saliankar, Director, Sales and Marketing, GPS. GPS was adjudged the ‘Best B2B Travel Event’ at the India Travel Awards South 2018.
