Sri Lanka Tourism was able to showcase its prestige as one of the most sought after travel destinations in the Asian region, by participating at the Travel and Tourism Fair, Kolkata, (TTF) which was held from 7-9^th July, 2017. At this event Sri Lanka bagged the award for the most promising new destination enriched with its cultural heritage and natural resources. The Sri Lankan pavilion drew a major attraction with its creativity and colorful bliss.

Industry participants

Travel and Tourism Fair, (TTF) has been serving as a platform for the huge travel market in Eastern India, since 1989, as the oldest and one of the biggest travel trade shows in the country.

TTF Kolkata hada full house show at the Netaji Indoor Stadium and KhudiramAnushilan Kendra. 400 sellers from 28 states and 13 countries participated at this mega event.This time; the show has grown 10% in terms of number of participants and revenue, compared to last year.

B2B Meetings

TTF Kolkata is one of the busiest travel trade shows in the country. Thousands of travel trade members visit the show, and the first one and a half days are reserved for the trade sector. Equally, a large number of avid travelers throng the show in the remaining one and a half days of the event, during the weekend. TTF Kolkata has maintained a steady growth, signaling positive sentiments in the travel trade, despite the headwinds due to demonetization and uncertainties of the GST regime from July 1^st, 2017.

The Sri Lankan Pavilion

Kolkata is ranked as the third wealthiest city in India, after Mumbai and Delhi. The city has a unique tradition of taking domestic and outbound trips in large numbers especially during the puja holidays.

Generally, 24 states participated in the TTF Kolkata, with their official pavilions. The biggest state pavilions included West Bengal as the host state, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh as partner states. The others included Kerala, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi and Jharkhand as Feature states. There were also a large number of participants from Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Industry participants

Apart from these states, 6 foreign countries set up pavilions in TTF Kolkata, at the level of their national tourism organizations. Sri Lanka Tourism participated for the first time at this event with a well organized pavilion consisting of a large number of industry representatives and Tourism Stakeholders representing the country. There were 13 participants from Sri Lanka. Other foreign countries which participated at the level of their National Tourism Organizations included Bangladesh, China, Macao, Nepal and Thailand. In addition to this, private sector participants from Bhutan, Canada, Japan, Myanmar, UAE and USA added more feathers to TTF’s cap this year.

With the continuous support from the tourism departments of the host state West Bengal as well as various other states, the Ministry of Tourism of India National Tourist Offices of several countries, thousands of private exhibitors and trade associations, TTF Kolkata continues to be one of the biggest platforms providing opportunities for buyers and sellers across the country to showcase their latest offerings and build long term business ties. According to Mr. Sanjiv Agrawal, Chairman and CEO of the organizers of the event,Fairfest Media Ltd, TTF Kolkata is India’s oldest and one of the busiest travel trade shows inIndia, increasing the importance of Outbound and Inbound potential in the East and South East Asia, serving as a strategically important gateway for the industry. Sri Lanka Tourism was represented by Mr. VirangaBandara, Assistant Director, and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.