THE disagreements that led to the exodus of 24 outbound agencies from the 2015 NATAS Travel Fair have been 80 per cent resolved, according to NATAS, which said it has no issues with members starting their own event.
NATAS spoke to the media yesterday following a forum with over 70 NATAS members. Devinder Ohri, president, said: “The outcome was very positive. We are quite close to achieving what we set out to achieve, which is to have one fair, rather than two competing fairs.”
He added that “things are looking very bright” and issues that led to the split are about 80 per cent resolved.
Regarding the pull-out, Ohri commented: “It is a commercial decision if our members should choose to organise their own travel fair, and we have no issues with them doing so.”
“However, we are of the opinion that having a single travel fair will benefit the industry and consumers the most in the long run, and we will continue to engage our members to bring this matter to a swift resolution,” he said.
The association announced at yesterday’s media conference that entrance fees for both its fairs in March and August next year would be waived, claiming this was not in direct response to the new rival fair but to celebrate Singapore’s 50th year of nationhood.
It has also adjusted exhibitor booth rental rates for savings of between 18 and 22 per cent.
Entrance fees and booth rentals costs were key points of contention raised by the working committee of the new Outbound Travel Fair earlier this week when it announced that 24 outbound agencies would be holding a separate event.
However, the committee representing the Outbound Travel Fair remains unimpressed.
Alicia Seah, director of marketing communications at Dynasty Travel and committee spokesperson, said: “As we see it, resolution is still far from the 80 per cent that NATAS has cited…we feel that they are reactive rather than proactive now.”
Seah said the waiver of entrance fees for next year’s NATAS fairs is temporary and the association is still withholding financial information specifically about the fairs.
