TAIWAN Visitors Association today launches the biggest edition of Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) with 1,350 booths, record 280,000 attendees expected, and a slew of new consumer-facing attractions.
Running from October 18 to 21 at the Taipei World Trade Center, about 900 tourism units from 60 countries are showing up for the fair, with booth numbers growing 12.5 per cent from 1,200 last year to 1,350 this year.
Emily Huang, executive director of ITF, explained: “As exhibition spaces were snapped up within the month of April, demand exceeded supply and there were no more booths to allocate to exhibitors on the waiting list. This is why we decided to arrange for a new zone.”
To meet strong demand, organisers added a new area for an additional 150 booths that were given to hostels, hotels and restaurants.
First-time exhibitors at ITF include destinations like Argentina, Chile, Seychelles, the Netherlands and Poland.
Attendees will also be able to choose from a total of 44 travel seminars this year. “The travel seminars are a very useful platform for exhibitors to introduce their products and strength to agencies,” said Huang.
Trade visitors are projected to make up 7.8 per cent of total participants, and ITF yesterday hosted 14 sessions for the fair’s 79 buyers from 19 countries.
Consumers can also look forward to new services and attractions such as lucky draws, gift giveaways, performances, as well as food- and fashion-themed activities.
Said Huang: “Additionally, a local cloud service has been launched at the venues, with an exclusive ITF cloud channel. Visitors can discover information about various ITF activities and discounts free-of-charge through their mobile phones, without first having to download an app or key in a website address.”
