Hoteliers in Bengaluru expect business revival with IATO Convention

The 25th IATO Annual Convention, to be held in Bengaluru from September 3-6, 2009, is being perceived by the city's hospitality industry as a major medium to revive business and ensure upward trend in the hotel occupancies of the state. As reported earlier, the event is being hosted at The Lalit Ashok Hotel and the other partner hotels for the convention are Fortune Park JP Celestial, The Gateway Hotel Residency Road and The Chancery Pavillion. The hotels have offered special rates for the convention delegates. They have come together with Karnataka Tourism to promote the state as a lucrative tourism destination and highlight its various tourist sites. The hoteliers are also using the event as an opportunity to showcase their properties to the tour operators attending the event. Karnataka Tourism has also offered exhibition space to the hotel partners at the travel mart to be held on the last day of the Convention.

Realising the potential of the MICE segment, the partner hotels aim to start a similar initiative like Visit Hyderabad in Bengaluru.