SATTE provides a comprehensive platform to domestic and international buyers and professionals from across the travel, tourism and hospitality industry along with National and State Tourism Boards (NTOs and STOs) to congregate and conduct business, arrive at solution-driven innovations to counteract economic uncertainties, and promote inbound, outbound and domestic tourism in India.
NEW DELHI – UBM India commenced 2017 on a robust note with its biggest travel trade engagement show ‘SATTE 2017‘ at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. In its 24th edition, the three-day event is witnessing participation from the cross section of global and Indian travel and tourism markets. Most importantly, in an extremely significant tie-up, SKAL, a professional organization of international tourism leaders, announced its association with UBM India to host the 78th edition of the SKAL World Congress, for the first time in India, at Hyderabad from October 5-8, 2017.
South Asia’s largest and most reputed tourism show witnessed a ribbon cutting ceremony at the venue to begin the proceedings formally with Chief Guest Shri Kapil Mishra — Minister for Water, Tourism, Culture, Arts and Language – doing the honours along with Mr Michael Duck, Executive Vice President, UBM Asia, and Mr Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India, in the presence of a number of key dignitaries.
SATTE provides a comprehensive platform to domestic and international buyers and professionals from across the travel, tourism and hospitality industry along with National and State Tourism Boards (NTOs and STOs) to congregate and conduct business, arrive at solution-driven innovations to counteract economic uncertainties, and promote inbound, outbound and domestic tourism in India. This most favoured industry platform is also well-supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Govt. of India.
The expo saw participation from almost all State Tourism Boards. As far as NTOs are concerned, USA, Mexico, Czech Republic, Spain, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia, Macau, Fiji, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Reunion Island, Turkey and Egypt amongst others have participated with Peru, Vietnam and Sharjah joining in for the first time. While Turkey, Dubai, Sri Lanka and Thailand are partner countries, Sharjah is the feature country for SATTE 2017. Similarly, in India, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka are the partner states while Odisha is the Premium Partner State and Jammu & Kashmir is the feature state for this year.
SATTE 2017 also saw an active participation from hospitality players such as, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, ITDC, Sterling Resorts, Dubai Parks & Resorts, Movenpick Hotel & Resorts, Minor Hotels, Melia Hotels International, ONYX Hospitality Group, Ramee Group of Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Venetian Cotai amongst others. Apart from NTOs and State Tourism Boards, travel & hospitality companies, airlines, cruise liners, DMCs, OTAs and tourism products have also joined the event. SATTE works closely with renowned travel associations, organisations and media houses, keeping visitors and buyers at the show well-informed on trends and updates of the industry.
This year too, SATTE continues to receive support of international organisations and Indian travel trade associations such as World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Indian Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), SKAL International, United Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) and IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), to name a few.
In a foreword message to SATTE, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said, “SATTE’s dynamic growth mirrors international tourism’s rapid expansion, with Asia and the Pacific being increasingly seen as the new centre of gravity for global travel. Significantly, SATTE 2017 is one of the first meetings of the international tourism community in South Asia since the launch of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 in January. Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Year is a crucial moment to make tourism an effective and dynamic tool in building a safer, more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable world for all.”
Speaking on the 24th edition of SATTE, Mr Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India said, “The current economic conditions have placed the world of tourism at an extremely interesting juncture, especially when seen from India’s perspective. This is where a travel and tourism show of SATTE’s stature is so significant. Backed by international organizations and Indian associations, SATTE will strive to analyze trends, forecast future developments, come up with viable solutions and of course, help businesses thrive. Be it the overwhelming response from exhibitors, or the discussions at our conference pertaining to trending subjects like sustainable tourism, how to create irresistible travel packages, or understanding the nuances of the GST; SATTE is a wholesome experience that no travel professional can afford to miss. Every year, we put in our best efforts to make the show more promising than the last one and we are looking forward to some constructive and interesting developments and trends from SATTE’s 2017 edition.”
He added, “Our government has also shown a lot of promise for the tourism sector with the recent Union Budget. Apportioning Rs. 3.9 lakh crores to infrastructure development, developing tourism zones in partnership with states, identifying 2,000 km of coastal roads for development, and granting Rs. 64,000 crores for national highways are very forward thinking measures by the Government which are bound to improve tourism and the general standard of living.”
SATTE, South Asia’s leading B2B travel and tourism trade exhibition, has worked its way to become a catalyst for the Indian travel and tourism sector with each visitor approaching the expo with high expectancy from the event and its offerings. Visitors at the signature expo witnessed a number of innovative features including a special start-up pavilion that encouraged travel start-ups, power-packed knowledge forums and conferences, a B2B Scheduler that serves as a business matchmaker, Chai Adda, cultural entertainment acts and Destination Theme Nights, to name a few.
The key sessions at SATTE 2017 covered subjects that encompass new trends and insights pertaining to the sector. SATTE hosted three panel discussions on Day one that brought together stakeholders of the industry on a single platform, allowing exchange of ideas and adding value to Indian tourism. With the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ scheme working in full swing, The panel discussion included trending topics such as ‘Responsible Tourism’, ‘Make in India and Tourism’ and ‘Talk Show on GST’.
As a pre-cursor to the expo, UBM India hosted the SATTE Awards 2017 for the first time. The awards evening was an endeavour to recognize and celebrate the excellence, achievements and innovations of key stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry and was based on transparent, authentic and genuine parameters, a philosophy which is imbibed in the values of SATTE. The awards night also included networking opportunities, presentations and other features. The 19 awards covered various segments of the travel and tourism industry including airlines, cruise, tour operators, hotels, destinations, online travel portals, to name just a few. In its first edition, the Awards received an overwhelming response from the travel and industry.
Industry Reactions and Launches at SATTE 2017, New Delhi
Cox & Kings Ltd – Karan Anand – Head, Relationships
“SATTE provides us with the perfect platform and audience to reach out to our target market and it is an opportune event to showcase our new offerings. This year we are promoting our women-only tours called the Getaway Goddess and Trip 360, which is an adventure travel platform which emphasises on the three S’s, namely Safety, Sustainability and Social. We are also offering exciting new products and destinations from across the world to our target audience.”
Israel Ministry of Tourism – Hassan Madah – Director, India & Philippines Office
“SATTE gives you the opportunity to meet and interact with the leading people in the Indian travel industry. We participate in order to give a platform to our DMC’s to communicate and offer their products to the Indian partners. SATTE was always our partner in this matter. We will be conducting 3 roadshows in 3 cities that we haven’t visited before – Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Also, we will be launching our second campaign in India.”
Tourism Fiji – Vaijayanthi Kari – India Representative
“We have been part of SATTE every year and the event has become synonymous with knowledge sharing and networking in the travel trade fraternity of India. The 2017 edition is expected to be no less. With various changes taking place in the travel industry as a result of economic changes, SATTE is a good forum for the sector to plan next steps and stay updated with trends. With being solely based in Mumbai, the event is a great platform for us to meet key members of the travel trade fraternity pan-India, who are slated to attend the event. Fiji Airways also started direct flights to Fiji from Singapore and this places us at a good position to highlight Fiji vacations to more travel segments and markets from India. In this regard, SATTE 2017 gives us a good platform to understand the support that our stakeholders seek from us, while showcasing the destination’s new offerings for the market.”
Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd
“We participate in SATTE for mainly PR reasons to meet our suppliers and business partners. We include SATTE in our plans in order to source for leisure and MICE movements. No major announcements to be done.”
Global Destinations – Pranav Kapadia, Founder
“SATTE is one of the most awaited annual travel trade events in India for our partners. SATTE happens right before the peak tourist season for most of our partners and is a key trade event we encourage them to participate in. The quality of buyers at SATTE is really good and we see good results from the event round the year. With some great new partners on board with us this year, SATTE gives us the platform to showcase our portfolio to the Indian travel trade fraternity. We aim to highlight the new partnerships and the strength of our longstanding collaborations at SATTE 2017.”
Travel Boutique Online – Ankush Nijhawan – CEO
“It is a flagship travel and tourism exhibition in India and we have been one of the biggest exhibitors at SATTE with many of our brands exhibiting here. Many travel visitors do visit SATTE and it gives us a great opportunity to engage with them. I am sure we will have a lot of footfall this year as well, with the ones who we have worked previously with us and new ones too.”
Tourism Authority of Thailand – Isra Stapanaseth – Director
“SATTE 2017 like every year promises to be a great platform for us and our private sector from Thailand representing the travel, trade and hospitality sectors to meet and interact with the travel trade from across India. SATTE being one of India’s leading travel trade shows gives a perfect opportunity to conduct business and interact with a large number of visitors, including international buyers & trade visitors, over 3 days under one roof.”
Rooms XML Solutions Limited – Mr. Prakash Bang – Founder & Executive Chairman
“Since we are a 100% B2B Company, SATTE surely gives us an opportunity to meet with new travel agents and also connect with our existing customers from the region. Meeting all of them personally otherwise would have been a herculean task. 2017 will be another path-breaking year for us. We will be introducing next generation API with cutting-edge features. Two of them are: Under 1-second response and multiple hotel searches in single request.”
Reunion Island Tourism Board – Mr. Vineet Gopal – Director India
“SATTE since its beginning has been one of the most prominent Travel Trade Shows in the country and it has always addressed the important issues of Indian travel trade on a common platform. Through this platform, we get a chance to meet various business partners not just in India, but also all across the globe, thus help us to showcase our tourism offerings to our B2B partners, which will eventually result in bigger sales.”
RezLive.com by Travel Designer – Mr. Jaal Shah – Group Managing Director – Travel Designer Group
“SATTE is an Inspiring event that creates new opportunities and brings to reality the scope and future growth of the travel market. It provides the right platform to the OTA’s, hoteliers, Agents, DMC’s to showcase and market their product to meaningful visitors coming from across the globe. We have always received a very favourable response from the travel trade and the stall remains packed with our travel partners. This year also we expect the same and hope to see visitors in large numbers. Travel Designer Group which has different brands under its umbrella, will be majorly showcasing the innovative features and technological supremacy of RezLive.com to the travel trade during SATTE, as this year will all together will be a special year for us as RezLive.com is celebrating 10 years of Online Presence.”
Ramee Group of Hotels – Nihit Srivastava – Director, Operations & Business Development (INDIA)
“We at Ramee Group of Hotels having our major presence in Middle East did find exhibiting meaningful at SATTE 2016. Though the market for fiscal 2016-2017 was tough, but then Indian tourists have been a major business strength, we have also seen growth on the footfalls compared to previous years’ exhibitions at this platform & so the need to represent, showcase the group is even more important. At SATTE 2017 we are expecting to interact with more number of buyers than previous year, as we are not only expanding in the Middle East with current positioning of 32 properties but also we have now 13 properties in India out of which 10 shall be operational by mid-2017. Launches for the year are Ramee International 144 Key getting Operational in Surat, Ramee Casa in New Delhi and Ramee Suites in Mumbai.”
Abu Dhabi Tourism Culture and Authority – Ahmed Al Mansoori, – International Promotion Executive – Destination Promotion Department
“SATTE is a pan-India show where leaders of the travel fraternity meet under one roof. We are extremely delighted to be a part of the 24th edition of this leading travel show. It has always been an integral part in our plans, as it is the premier trade show where we always want to mark our presence. This year too our significant stake holders like Etihad, Emirate Palace, Lama Tours, etc. would be leading the front with us. We as one family will spread the information about our destination, thereby helping us to benefit from each other. There are no such announcements in particular, but we want to reinstate our ongoing good relationships with the travel & tourism industry.”
Go Desk – Narayan VS – Co- founder
“We are in the age of WhatsApp. 99% of hotel guests are on WhatsApp. GoDesk is introducing for the first time a helpdesk software for hotels to deliver 24/7 dedicated and prompt guest service over WhatsApp.”
Tourism Office of Spain – Ignacio Ducasse – Director
“Tourism Office of Spain has been a regular at SATTE since 2011. SATTE is particularly important for us this year with the launch of the direct flight connection from December 2016, between Delhi and Madrid. We are very hopeful that tourism into Spain from India would see a steady growth with this direct connection. This year we have 08 Spanish companies co-exhibiting in our stand. For the very first time at SATTE 2017, we have participation from two regional tourism boards, Andalucia and Comunidad de Madrid. Tour operator, Trapsatur will also be participating for the first time. The rest of the companies are now a regular at SATTE, namely Madrid Tourist Board, Palladium Hotel Group, Across Spain, Century Incoming and Warq Events.”
Youdian Business Solutions – Sandiip Srivastava – Director
“At SATTE this year, we are announcing the Launch of Europe by Rail packages. These packages are modular in design, and hence multiple products can be stitched together to suit the duration of the client’s holiday requirements. These products are first of their kind in India. Youdian has tied-up with Nokkie Tours, Baltic Vitalis and South American Tours to offer their products in India.”
India Assist Travels – Mr Harish Khatri
“SATTE plays an important role as it brings the different aspects of travel & tourism industry together which creates a strong eco system for the industry. We are launching India Assist through SATTE, as a service for foreign tourist’s arrivals in India, having a prime objective that tourists enjoy the trip to India and just in case they get into some kind of distress or hassle, we will be there to assist them. The tourists just need to press a button in their mobiles and they will get connected to our call centre to resolve any issue.”
Korea Tourism Organization
“SATTE being the key travel B2B shows for the Indian travel trade, it is always a must do in our marketing plans. While we network with the travel fraternity during the three days of our participation, we anticipate to convert best alliances for our marketing plans in 2017. Korea has received 195,579 in 2016 compared to 150,000 for 2015. We are positive for even better year-on-year growth going forward.”
Cruise Professionals – Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director
“SATTE has always been in the forefront of Indian B2B landscape and in 2017 we are very confident that exchange of ideas, information and services would be more this year. SATTE 2017 is more relevant this year as the industry is going through a massive upheaval, which necessitates deeper engagements and pointed questions to be answered. SATTE is one of the few trade shows which has attained the level of MECCA for the entire travel trade. Needless to say, each year comes with its own challenges, but we feel that our past association with SATTE and our current participation in SATTE 2017 would be a long-standing one in the years to come.”
“We are proud to announce, Effective February 2017, Hurtigruten has appointed Cruise Professionals as the exclusive GSA for India & Sri Lanka with a view to grow revenue opportunities and establish wider distribution in these two markets. By enhancing their commitment in India & Sri Lanka, the management of both companies aim to make Hurtigruten a major exploration cruise brand in India with significant growth in the years ahead,” he added.
Melia Hotels International – Tonia Sehan – Director of Sales India
“SATTE will be a unique opportunity for Melia Hotels international to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business with a good number of potential travel professionals from different segments of the travel industry pan-India. We are also expecting it to be the right platform for increasing brand awareness in Indian Travel trade. It is one of the biggest platforms to increase visibility of our products to the travel agents across India. Our objective behind participating in SATTE 2017 is to increase awareness of Melia Hotels International amongst the Indian travel agents and share the attractive offers for MICE, wedding groups, leisure travellers etc. We will also attract travel agents to register for our Melia pro reward program campaign to enjoy the special offers and be one of the winners of our latest contest ‘Book and Win fabulous prizes’.”
Start-ups at SATTE 2017, New Delhi
1. Tripshelf
Ms. Sukhmani Singh
Designation – Co-Founder
“Kudos to SATTE for giving travel start-ups like Tripshelf, a platform to showcase their disruptive products via the start-up pavilion. At SATTE, we are most excited to connect with small and medium tour operators to help them promote their brand and holiday packages to the online audience via tripshelf.com – our ad-tech platform for tour operators.”
2. Hive Travel Media Solutions LLP
Mr Pankaj Sawardekar
“Participating in an event like SATTE is a dream for any start-up company. The start-up pavilion has made it possible for us. We are thankful to SATTE. We look forward to interact with fellow start-up owners and who’s who of the travel industry.”
3. Ithaka
Mr Ameya Sahasrabudhe
“At Ithaka, we’re building an eco system for travel. Any eco system is incomplete without the right partners, be it ticketing, hotels or other fulfilments. That’s what we’re here for, if you are doing great work in the travel space, we want to talk to you and explore opportunities.”
4. OyeSeva
Ms Shalini Tripathi
“SATTE is the biggest platform to meet the best travel professionals. It will be an unparalleled opportunity for OyeSeva to interact with the leading representatives of the travel industry, increase visibility and reach, and get assured business leads.”
5. Nafex
Mr Jeethmal Mutha
“The Indian travel and tourism industry is on the path of growth as a result of many favourable conditions. With the vision of SATTE Travel Tradeshow viz to ensure that the stakeholders of this industry and the related ones like we, who provide foreign exchange for people traveling abroad, can capitalize on all the available opportunities. We Nafex.com aim at providing customers with a quick and convenient experience online, by getting them the best rates on Forex and to be the preferred choice when it comes to Forex. The customers of travel agents need not have to scurry around looking for the best rates in Forex after booking their travel tickets with them, as the Travel Agents themselves can provide them much needed relief at 1-stop. All they have to do is to log on to our website, https://www.nafex.com and enter the customer’s currency requirement to get the best rate in their vicinity, within a few minutes. All of this, without the Customer having to make several calls to money changers and getting different quotes from each of them. Our partnership with leading authorized money changers, not just makes it easy to transact, but is also in every respect – reliable.”
6. Proposal OTG
Mr Arun Nagpal
“Start-up pavilion is one of the best platforms for start-up’s to showcase their new ideas and innovations. It opens up doors to meet potential investors to take the first step as well as it provides a network to market their product on a larger platform.”
7. The Trip Works
Mr Satish Singh
Director & CEO
“SATTE start-up pavilion is a great initiative to get new and upcoming tech-enabled concepts to showcase their product to the industry and the investment fraternity. We believe we will get the right kind of exposure to showcase our product.”
8. CRINDO
Mr Vishal Agarwal
“SATTE has been an excellent platform for both existing and new business set ups. A dedicated pavilion for travel tech start-ups will only encourage participation and help everyone with reforming business ideas.”
9. YuMiGo
Mr Rishabh Sood
CEO & Co-Founder
“With all the major inbound and outbound travel operators present at the show, there couldn’t be a better audience for us at YuMiGo to launch and showcase our game-changing travel app to the world.”
10. Travelshore Technologies P Ltd.
Mr Alex T Jacob
Director & CEO
“Based on our experience last year, we believe SATTE is the most effective platform to market the technology solutions to the travel agents and tour operators worldwide. The event is more prominent as there is a wide opportunity for networking with the 12,000+ buyers expected @ SATTE.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
