Positioned as ‘The Trade Show for the Asian Travel Market’ ITB Asia 2009, which will be held from October 21-23, 2009 at Suntec Singapore Exhibition & Convention Centre, will focus its energies on Small- and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the travel and tourism industry. This year's SME report will be presented at the ITB Asia and later issued publicly free of charge. The report will be compiled by Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Travel Impact Newswire. The event will feature a comprehensive report on the responses by Asia-Pacific National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) to the challenges facing their respective SMEs. The event will be attended by travel companies representing business travel, conferences, meetings, incentive trips, leisure groups and special events.
According to Dr Martin Buck, Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), “It is apparent that the recent global financial crisis has had a significant impact on travel and tourism SMEs. In all countries, there is general acknowledgement that SMEs comprise the bedrock of the travel and tourism industry.” |