IT&CMA 2003 Press Conference
Darren Ng
TTG Asia Media, Managing Director
Thailand, 04 November 2003 -
Friends and colleagues from the international and Thai media, welcome to Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia – IT&CMA 2003, the second time that the event is being held in Thailand.
From the early years in Hong Kong, through the five years that IT&CMA was held in Malaysia, and its inaugural staging in Thailand last year, the event had grown in status and standing, as the industry itself became more and more sophisticated.
I am glad to say that the size of the show and number of participants this year is comparable to last year’s. This is an excellent affirmation of our success in this specialised industry as we begin the next chapter of IT&CMA after 10 dynamic years.
We have 271 exhibiting companies from 28 countries, many organised in national pavilions and others at corporate booths, spread over a gross floor area of 5,000 sq metres. There are 277 hosted and trade buyers from 39 countries as well as 56 members of the media, over three quarters of them from overseas.
Despite being dealt with a chain of unfortunate global events this year, including the Iraq War, SARS outbreak and the continued threat of terrorism, the MICE industry has exhibited great resilience in these difficult times. At IT&CMA this year, we have the greatest ever number of exhibiting companies including new comers from the Middle East. We welcome new buyers from first-time countries like Argentina, Bahrain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, Romania and Turkey. I think this is the best testimony of the industry’s strong recovery in the Asia Pacific region.
We are also pleased to announce that TTG Asia Media, which has been organizing CTW (Corporate Travel World) Asia-Pacific for the last six years, intends to co-locate the event with IT&CMA next year in Thailand.
This decision means we as well as our partners and supporters can achieve more synergy by leveraging the region’s two major niche travel trade events catering to corporate travel and the meetings industry.
My team and I are very grateful to TAT, TG, TICA (Thailand Incentive & Convention Association), Impact Convention Center, the 14 official and supporting hotels and all other partners who have given such tremendous support to IT&CMA.
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