'SATTE GenX' paves the way for the revival of the travel & tourism industry

New Delhi/Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] October 21 (ANI/PRNewswire): SATTE, South Asia's largest travel and tourism exhibition by Informa Markets in India, successfully concluded its virtual debut with SATTE GenX, South Asia's premium virtual travel exhibition.
The show was marked by 122 exhibitors and brought together 6051 attendees from the travel trade fraternity at one platform to discuss the challenges, solutions, and way forward for the industry amidst the pandemic.
The inaugural ceremony of the SATTE GenX witnessed the presence of Prahalad Singh Patel, Minister for Tourism and Culture (I/C), India; Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister for Shipping (I/C), India; Dr Abdulla Mausoom, Minister for Tourism, Maldives; Harris Theoharis, Minister of Tourism, Greece; MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, Hotel Association of India and Former Tourism Secretary, Govt of India; Maneck Dawar, Chairman, SEPC; Jyoti Mayal, Vice Chairman, FAITH and Subhash Goyal, Hon. Secretary, FAITH amongst others. The ceremony was attended by the top leadership of the industry.
"The pandemic has caused mayhem in the ecosphere of travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. The WTTC estimates a loss of USD 5.543 trillion in the sector's contribution to global GDP and 197 million jobs if travel restrictions prolong. India is no exception; tourism has witnessed a significant decline during 2020. As 90 per cent of the global population adjusted to life under travel restrictions and others stayed home in fear of contracting the virus, the sector came to an almost complete standstill. Yet, the travel, tourism, and hospitality leaders have remained strong in these times of adversity. SATTE GenX is an initiative for the industry, that ensures a parade of International as well as domestic destinations that have reopened or are likely to in the upcoming season. It is an effort to cater to the market changes and to offer an organised structure to conduct business in the midst of the ongoing crisis and gradual restart," said Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India welcoming the dignitaries at the inauguration of SATTE GenX.
"With the Government's recent nod to reopen physical exhibitions, with due SOP, it has also recognised B2B Exhibitions as providing 'major stimulus for industrial and commercial development'," added Yogesh.
"We look forward to securely restarting our physical exhibitions that include SATTE in early 2021 to repose the trust of our government and our stakeholders in the travel and tourism domain," he further added.
This digital event was a part of the Informa Markets in India's 'Virtual B2B celebration', a powerful array of virtual trade shows and e-conferences in the month of September & October 2020.
The initiative of the Virtual B2B Celebrations helped relevant communities, and businesses overcome the limitations of lockdown, achieve business goals, and provide a powerful edge as the economy readies itself to get back on track.
The virtual trade show saw the participation of exhibitors such as Indonesia, Saudi Arab, Maldives, Thailand, Dubai, Bangladesh, and MakeMyTrip as the Platinum Partners; Fiji, Greece, Utah, and TravelBoutiqueOnline as Gold Partners and Mauritius, Germany, Somatheeram & Guideline Travels as Silver Partner.
The Services Export Promotional Council (SEPC), an advisory body of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, displayed an exclusive pavilion at the virtual exhibition to initiate the revival of India's inbound tourism.
The Ministry of Shipping, Govt of India extended its support to SATTE GenX by hosting a 'Cruise Pavilion' to enable participation of major Indian ports and cruise lines.
SATTE GenX hosted an exciting series of sessions, discussions, and presentations. The conference had thought leaders sharing their views on 'Outbound Travel: Reinventing Strategy'; ' Cruise Tourism: Is India ready to ride the wave?'; 'Tourism Associations: Managing a Global Crisis' and 'Hospitality: The Future of Hotel Industry'.
SATTE GenX was well supported by international and Indian travel trade associations such as the Indian Association of Tour Operator (IATO), Skal Asia, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), India Golf Tourism Association (IGTA), Network of Indian MICE Agents (NIMA), Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO), Universal Federation of Travel Agent Association (UFTAA), BD Inbound and Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA), to name a few.
"SATTE GenX with a host of international and domestic exhibitors is an attempt to help restart tourism global business. This virtual initiative is a new attempt and an out-of-the-box solution to help the industry. I would like to thank all the international tourism boards and domestic companies participating in this exhibition. This is a good step for the revival of the tourism segment," said Prahalad Singh Patel, Minister for Tourism and Culture (I/C), India.
"I am very happy to be a part of SATTE GenX. Since the inception of our government, we always had the vision to develop cruise tourism in India. We have tried to bring all the stakeholders like port, immigration, tourism department, post health department, custom department, taxation bodies, tour operators, etc on a common platform... We want to put India on the map of global cruise tourism. SATTE GenX will play a vital role in boosting the cruise tourism segment," said Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister for Shipping (I/C), India.
"It is a great pleasure to be a part of SATTE GenX. SATTE has been one of the most important exhibitions for us. We need to work together to overcome these challenging times. Even though virtually, this exhibition is very encouraging. We need to use such stronger virtual tools for networking for more efficiency...Exhibitions like SATTE will take us to the next level. We are not very sure of the path ahead, but this is an opportunity for us to do business in a new way," said Abdulla Mausoom, Minister for Tourism, Maldives.
"For India and Greece, the travel industry is a very important segment which has helped the economy grows. The pandemic has forced us to think out of the box and how we can realign practices with the new normal. The health protocols along with training and testing regimes at the borders will surely ensure the safety of passengers and citizens. This has been a difficult year for everyone, initiatives like SATTE helps in bringing people together and is a platform to do business," said Harris Theoharis, Minister of Tourism, Greece.
"We are indeed honoured to partner with Informa for SATTE GenX. In SEPC, we are committed to supporting domestic services and our focus is on the travel and tourism industry. We all know that it will take a very long time for this industry to come back. From SEPC, we have been representing for the tourism industry, the government has not done as much as should have done. We have created a pavilion at SATTE GenX and have provided a platform for 75 exhibitors to promote themselves," said Maneck Dawar, Chairman, SEPC.
"SATTE GenX is taking place in a very unusual time, but SATTE will play a very significant role in reinstating the industry. This will lay the foundation for the new journey which we will be taking ahead. There is no doubt that tourism will bounce back as it did after 9/11, SARS, and Tsunami... SATTE plays a big role in the promotion of regional tourism," said MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, Hotel Association of India and Former Tourism Secretary, Govt of India.
"I am happy that what started as a small organization is today South Asia's largest travel show and the most successful buyer-seller meet. Next, we want SATTE to be the world's largest travel exhibition in the coming years. India is the center of South Asia, Australia, Europe, and America and should be the Centre for trade exhibition... I feel proud that SATTE has become a force to reckon with and is playing a key role in reviving the Indian tourism sector," said Subhash Goyal, Hony. Secretary, FAITH.
"SATTE GenX with over 122 exhibitors from across the globe will certainly be a great opportunity for the travel trade fraternity to network and restart business and to overcome this crisis. A crisis which has made us think and restructure ourselves" said Jyoti Mayal, Vice Chairman, FAITH.
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