DRMumbai: OTM Mumbai has emerged as one of the largest travel trade shows in the Asia-Pacific region. OTM 2019 is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, the largest source market for leisure and MICE travel in the country, from January 23-25, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre.
The show opens doors to India’s 22 million outbound travellers and provides travel professionals an opportunity to showcase their business at one of the largest travel source markets in the world.
The organisers Fairfest Media have said that OTM is the only travel trade show in Mumbai endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. According to them, K J Alphons, Union Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), has written to all State tourism departments recommending and inviting their participation in OTM 2019.
OTM Mumbai is one of the largest and most international gatherings of travel trade sellers and buyers in India, with more than 1000 sellers from 50-plus countries participating. This yearly trade show is a unique opportunity to connect with key travel players across Asia. These include National and State Tourism Organisations, Hotels, Airlines, Destination Marketing Companies and other suppliers serving leisure as well as MICE markets.
OTM is one of the biggest shows in India and scores on two parameters – the number of exhibitors and gross exhibition area rented by the organisers. Mumbai is the biggest source market for outbound and domestic tourists in India. Together with its hinterland markets in the West & South India, it commands 60 per cent of the total outbound tourists from India. It is also the strongest market for Business, Luxury and MICE travel in international and domestic segments.
In addition to buying and selling opportunities, exhibitors will also make colourful cultural presentations. There will be an interesting line up of panel discussions conducted on the sidelines. Eminent experts and leaders from the industry will deliberate on latest issues and prospects related to Domestic, Inbound, Outbound, MICE and Niche Tourism.
Films play an important role in promoting tourism. A unique feature of OTM from this year is a parallel session on CineLocales, held on January 23 and 24, where cinema producers are being invited to meet the destination marketing administrators, for selecting locations for their next film. It will be an interactive session on film tourism with premier film and TV producers from 30-plus top studios like Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions and Viacom. The producers will interact with the film commissions and other authorities interested in promoting their destinations to this sector.
Likewise, parallel sessions on Destination Weddings and the Travel Blogger Networking Sessions have added a new dimension to OTM.
A new feature of OTM 2019 will be at least 500 fully hosted qualified buyers and another 500 partly hosted buyers, from all over India. The total number of visitors is likely to cross 15,000, as in previous years.
