SATTE, tourism trade show

Michael Duck, Exec. Vice President, UBM Asia and Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister, India inaugurating SATTE 2016

South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) 2016, the leading B2B event in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, managed to attract a huge crowd in its 23rd year.

South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange, the three day business networking trade show in New Delhi that was scheduled for January 29-31, was a huge success and witnessed the participation of a large number of visitors and exhibitors from across the globe.

SATTE is recognised as the biggest outbound travel show in the country and in its 23rd year, the largest tourism event covered all aspects from inbound, domestic and international travel. The show acted as an ideal platform to exhibit products and services to the travel trade society all over the world with a scope to conduct business with thousands of visitors.

Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture and Civil Aviation was the chief guest and inaugurated the show in the presence of other prominent personalities. “Tourism is not just about visiting one part of the world to another part of the world, or visiting one part of the country to another part of the country, or from one place to another. It’s a science. We need to explore it. We need new inventions, experiments. Tourism is a platform for international peace which our great spiritual leaders have given us. Most of the time there has been an international barrier or some sort of resentment between two communities or two countries. The problem has been Communication. I think we can take this strength of tourism where we can increase communication before taking any decisions we should at least use that platform of communicating with the counterpart. So tourism’s multifold results and effects need to be weighed and discussed at such forums,” he said.

Nearly 37 countries and 26 Indian states participated in the event including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Singapore, Egypt, Mexico, Malaysia, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkey, Macau, Fiji, Bhutan, Cambodia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Romania and Russia and Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Goa, Karnataka, Odisha and Rajasthan among others.

The travel and tourism industry exchange was very effective in promoting travel and tourism in the region. In addition to this, it also served as a great platform in boosting inbound travel to India from the world.
“We are having a huge stall here. 37 travel agencies, hotels, tour operators, DMCs, Indian restaurants in Turkey and many other associations such as the Association of Turkey Travel Agents, all are with us here,” said Özgür Aytürk, coordinator, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkey.

This event showcased various services and products from the travel and tourism industry and attracted hundreds of exhibitors that included national offices, State Tourism Boards, hotels, Destination Management Companies, airport authorities, domestic and international airlines, cruise liners, hotels and resorts, spas and wellness centers, state tourism departments, national and international tourism organisations, travel agents, tour operators and other tourism service providers and suppliers displaying their wonderful range of products and services to thousands of travel trade attendees to promote their business in the international markets. Also, visitors like tour operators, travel agents, corporate travellers, potential investors in the field of hospitality, leisure and travel industry and location planners were seen at the event.

South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) has always been a spark plug and motivator for boosting up the Indian travel and tourism industry. It is growing over the years and has been reaching out to a quality audience in addition to ensuring a good visitor turnout. SATTE is an essential show for the travel and tourism industry without a doubt.