Insights India

India International Travel Mart Bangalore 2013

The 2013 edition of India International Travel Mart or IITM will be held between July 26 - 28 at KTPO Trade Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore

With this year’s edition of IITM, Sphere Travel Media & Exhibitions is proudly completing 14 years of providing the travel industry and discerning buyers from the travel – trade and corporate sector an opportunity to do business.

The event will have over 400 participants from over 15 countries and over 20 Indian states. The participants include Travel agents & Tour Operators, DMC, Hotels & Resorts, National Tourist Organizations, Cruises, Airlines, Online Travel Portals etc.

Some of the International participants who are participating this year include Tourism Authority of Thailand and delegation, Dubai Tourism & delegation, Tourism Malaysia, Oman Tourism, Switzerland Tourism, Sri Lanka Tourism, Egypt Tourism and many more..

Highlights:

This year Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia are the Partner Countries for the event and Egypt, Dubai, Oman and Switzerland will be the Feature Countries for IITM.

From India Gujarat, Rajasthan & Odisha are the ‘Partner States’ while Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra will be the ‘Feature Destinations’ at the event.

Other states being represented include Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, and many more. More than 200 hotels and resorts are participating from all over India, making it one of the most diverse range of hospitality products in the country on display.

Travel exclusively on Rail Based packages through IRCTC.

Diverse Tourism segments on display such as Pilgrimage Travel, Adventure, Cultural pursuits, shopping tours, etc.

Presence of leading Tour Operators such as Cox and Kings, Makemytrip and Thomas Cook to provide competitive tour packages to holidays in India and abroad.

The 'India International Travel Mart' provides an ideal 'marketing opportunity' and 'excellent backdrop' to enhance the participant's 'brand-equity' in the eyes of the discerning end consumer and the travel-trade.

The event showcases virtually travel and hospitality products from every part of the country, making it one of the biggest congregation of travel-trade in the country. The event provides unmatched networking opportunities to interact with Travel-trade and corporate buyers alike.

Tourism Studies and Trends indicate that the year 2013 - 14 will see more than 16 million dollar spending tourists embanking on overseas travel and with the advent of low cost international airfares, holiday packages that are available on monthly instalments payable over a period of time, International Travel is no longer a luxury.

Sphere TravelMedia Director Sanjay Hakhu said: “India in spite of the present business environment is fast emerging as one of the most interesting and productive countries for the travel trade industry both for leisure and business travel. A combination of factors is responsible for the growth and demand of travel trends from India. The visitor profile is on a B2B & B2C format like and will have over 15,000 buyers over three days”.

Rohit Hangal, Director, Sphere Travelmedia added: “With the present ongoing recession International Arrivals in India has dropped and ‘India International Travel Mart’ provides the right impetus to the Indian domestic tourism industry. The participants from the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and many more destinations will be seen aggressively marketing their products”.

Source - http://voyagersworld.in/

Puri Jagannath Ratha Yatra Begins Today

Ratha Yatra is the colourful festival which draws millions of devotees from various parts of the country and abroad to Puri.

Puri Jagannath Ratha Yatra

The annual Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath, his brother Bhalabhadra and sister Subhadra began at Odisha's beach town of Puri amid tight security on Wednesday, officials said.

The ceremonial procession of the deities known as Pahandi - carrying the deities out of the temple to the chariots - started at 9.45 a.m., Laxmidhar Pujapanda, public relations officer of the temple administration, said.

More than 800,000 devotees reached the town, some 55 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, by 11.30 a.m. Their numbers could swell to more than a million by evening, Pujapanda said.

The festival marks the annual journey of the three deities from the 12th century Jagannath temple in three splendidly decorated wooden chariots, pulled by devotees, to the Gundicha temple, around three km away.

The festival ends nine days later when the deities make their way back home to the Jagannath temple. The return journey, known as Bahuda Jatra, will be held July 19.

Devotees from different parts of the country and abroad attend this annual procession to get a glimpse of the deities, which is considered auspicious. The chariots are pulled with ropes by devotees amid chanting of hymns.

The state government has made adequate security arrangements to maintain law and order during the festival. Over 7,000 policemen are deployed across Puri to prevent any untoward incident, Superintendent of Police Anup Kumar Sahoo told IANS.

It is for the first time that the vehicles of VIPs are not being allowed to reach close to the temple. Such vehicles have to be parked at a distance, Sahoo said.

Besides a large number of closed circuit cameras installed at various places, bomb detection and disposal squads and fire tenders have been deployed to meet emergencies, the officer added.

Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/annual-rath-yatra-of-lord-jagannath-begins-at-puri/1/290580.html