THE MALAYSIAN Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) will add a travel trade show and conference to its consumer-oriented MATTA Fair from next edition onwards.
According to MATTA president, Mohd Khalid Harun, the success of the biannual event was the driver for the expansion. “We have had 65 NTOs participate in our fairs. Many of them bring their agents and suppliers to the fair and organise meetings with our travel trade,” he said.
“By organising a travel mart, we can facilitate such business-to-business dealings and transactions.”
To facilitate the expanded programme, the next edition in March 2012 will be extended to five days from the current three, with the first two days reserved for the travel mart and conference.
“MATTA will be looking out for larger premises as the Putra Trade World Centre (the current venue for the fair) is already at full capacity,” Khalid said.
Khalid added that the theme for the inaugural conference would be Islamic travel. Linked to this was a recently-signed memorandum of cooperation between MATTA and the Chinese Muslim Travel Association (CMTA).
“Both MATTA and CMTA will promote bilateral tourism. There are 35 million Muslims in China,” he said.
Meanwhile, the MATTA Fair August 2011 launched today featured 945 booths. Organising chairman, John Tan, said: “We expect a sales turnover of 100 million ringgit (US$33 million) and an attendance of 80,000 consumers.”
By N. Nithiyananthan
