India’s OTM breaks records

MUMBAI Over 10,000 trade visitors attended the three-day OTM trade show held in Mumbai, 21 to 23 February, Fairfest, the show organiser, in its a post-event review.

Exhibitors from a record number of 60 countries showcased their destinations at the show that focuses on outbound travel from India.

Hosted at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, the organisers concluded the event was now the largest trade show hosted in the country.

The attendance breakdown included 1,134 travel enterprises including national and state tourism organisations, hotels, airlines and destination marketing companies.

Over 10,000 travel trade visitors attended the show in addition to more than 500 buyers from travel trade and corporate sectors, who had qualified for special hosting privileges.

International buyers from countries like Kuwait, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia and Thailand were also extended similar hosting hospitality.

First-time exhibitors  at OTM included Bahrain, Cambodia, Cyprus, Greece, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Mumbai is the largest source market for leisure and MICE travel in India. Including neighouring region the country’s financial capital accounts for some 60% of the outbound travel booked in India.

A brand-new addition at OTM 2017 was the co-located BLTM – Business & Luxury Travel Mart, where qualified hosted buyers met  sellers by pre-appointment.

Indian citizens whether travelling abroad or within the country represent one of the fastest growing markets for leisure as well as business travel. According to the data published by India’s Ministry of Tourism, 20.38 million Indians booked foreign trips  in 2015 (11.1% higher than 2014). The number of domestic trips within India was a whopping 1,432 million (11.6% higher than in 2014).

In contrast, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was 8.03 million (4.05% higher than in 2014). OTM caters to all three market segments — outbound, domestic and inbound.

UNWTO estimates the number of Indian outbound travellers will grow to approximately 50 million in 2020, contributing USD28 billion in expenditure.

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