The Biggest Travel Show of India Concludes in West Bengal

Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) is the oldest and one of the biggest travel trade shows in India which originated in the city in 1989.
More than 430 exhibitors from 28 Indian states and 13 countries have assembled on the fully packed show floors of Kolkata’s very own Netaji Indoor Stadium and the adjacent Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Thousands of travel trade members visited the show in the first one and a half days reserved for the trade. An even larger number of travel lovers of Kolkata and nearby places visited the show.
TTF Kolkata has been always receiving large number of buyers and sellers from Bangladesh and Nepal. Thailand and UAE also have excellent flight connections from Kolkata, and they also participated in the show.
Sri Lanka and Macao joined TTF in recent years and are continuing this year as well. Other countries represented in the exhibition are Bhutan, China, Finland, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam etc.
Among Indian states, Uttarakhand has the largest pavilion, followed by Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha, Goa, Gujarat and Kerala who had set up largest state pavilions, with their private operators.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim had also set up state pavilions, to lure tourists to their states.
Joining TTF Kolkata for the first time, Cox & Kings is the Knowledge Partner, with a large pavilion of its own. They presented Destination Vietnam, Finland and Baltic States and its packages.
TTF Kolkata has always been a must-visit event not only for travel trade and tourists from Kolkata but also buyers from major cities in east and north-east India.
Thanks to the ‘look east’ policy of the Government of India, the states in East and North-East India and the neighbouring countries have seen an impetus in tourism in the region.
Buyers from all major cities in East and North-East India, as well as neighbouring Bangladesh was invited to attend TTF Kolkata. In addition to travel trade and tourists from Kolkata who visit the show in thousands, buyers from Dhaka, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Asansol, Siliguri, Dhanbad, Raniganj, Durgapur, Gangtok, Guwahati, Shillong, Agartala registered to visit the show.
“TTF Kolkata provides us with an opportunity to network with agents and tour operators from the city just before Durga Puja, which is one big opportunity and a very big festival in Eastern India,” said Karan Anand, Head, Relationships of Cox & Kings Ltd.
“TTF Kolkata is India’s oldest and one of the busiest travel trade shows in India. With the increasing importance of Outbound and Inbound potential in the East and Southeast Asia, it serves as a strategically important gateway for the industry. That is the reason it is a house full show every year since last 29 years – a legacy that we are proud of,” remarked Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman and CEO of the organisers Fairfest Media Ltd.
With consistent support from the Ministry of Tourism of Government of India, State Tourism Boards, National Tourist Offices of several countries, thousands of private exhibitors and trade associations, TTF continues to be the widest platform providing opportunities for buyers and sellers from across the country to showcase their latest offerings and build long term business ties.
Air India is the Partner Airline of TTF Kolkata. Just after TTF Kolkata, TTF Hyderabad will be held on July 13-14 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre and the TTF 2018 series will conclude with West India editions of TTF covering Ahmadabad (September 7-9), Surat (September 14-16), Pune (September 28-30) and Mumbai (October 5-7) in 2018.
In 2019, TTF Chennai is scheduled to commence from February 8-10 and TTF Bengaluru on 15-17, 2019.
> Pratyusha Mukherjee