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HomeAsia-PacificStatement by Mr. Darren Ng, Managing Director TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd, IT&CMA and CTW 2011

Statement by Mr. Darren Ng, Managing Director TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd, IT&CMA and CTW 2011

Official Press Conference Statement by Mr. Darren Ng, Managing Director TTG Asia Media Pte Ltd,  IT&CMA and CTW 2011 Official Press Conference, 4 October 2011

Good morning to all our International and Thai Media delegates.

Thank you all for being here at the IT&CMA and CTW 2011 Press Conference. It is my pleasure to address you today.

This 19th IT&CMA and 14th CTW Asia-Pacific celebrates 10 years in Thailand this year. Thailand has been the ideal host to our Doublebill event for the past decade. The modern facilities and the warm hospitality have kept us all coming back year after year. The continuous growth of Thailand as a MICE, business and leisure travel destination, is the perfect backdrop for our ever-growing event.

Our theme this year, ‘Winning Asia and Beyond’ is relevant on many fronts. For our delegates, we trust that the event is a winning one that achieves their many global business objectives. To us as event organisers, this is a goal we have realised over the last few years. We have indeed won the support of the MICE and Corporate Travel industry in Asia and across the world. This year’s show statistics clearly reflect the event’s success.

Show Statistics
Pre-event registration for 2011 hit a new high, with a total of 2,457 delegates from 60 countries/ territories. This comprises:

  • 827 exhibitors hailing from 335 exhibiting companies & organizations across 20 countries occupying a gross exhibition area of 5,000sqm.
  • About 491 buyers and corporate travel managers from 56 countries. Our buyer profile represents the cream of the crop, with buyers having annual purchasing power of up to $2 million USD.
  • Some 145 conference delegates attending CTW Asia-Pacific, hailing from some 20 countries, and
  • A total of 121 international and local media, attending from 28 countries.

We are also proud to share some of IT&CMA and CTW 2011’s exciting show achievements:

Business
The steps we have taken to attract the best MICE and Corporate Travel players in the industry, increase business opportunities and generate quality leads at IT&CMA and CTW have borne fruit:

Exhibitor participation has reached an all time high, with new participating companies comprising more than 45% of the total. Returning exhibitors have also increased their investment and booth space this year.

  • The event has had a major breakthrough in the Indo-Chine region with up and coming MICE destinations like Cambodia and Vietnam debuting at the event.
  • An exciting foray into Europe was achieved made this year, with Poland choosing IT&CMA and CTW as the right platform to showcase itself as a MICE destination.
  • Pattaya MICE City has more than tripled their exhibition space from 18sqm to a whopping 60sqm while Chiangmai has doubled its space from 18sqm to 36sqm. Sri Lanka Convention City has also increased its space from 18sqm to 24sqm.
  • This year, destination states like Hyderabad CVB, Seoul and Sabah have emerged from their country pavilions to participate as stand-alone exhibitors
  • We have also launched the Enhanced Shell Scheme booth this year. Sri Lanka Convention Bureau is the first to feature this new booth scheme which will be made available to 2012 exhibitors.
  • Thailand country pavilions and its MICE city clusters continue to be our largest exhibitor, with a total booth space of 471sqm

This has also been a great year for Buyer participation as well.

  •   We have once again achieved our 50% new buyers and corporate travel managers’ targets, thus ensuring that IT&CMA and CTW constantly injects fresh buying demand.
  • Buyers this year hail from 13 new countries/ territories such as Argentina, Cambodia, Denmark, Egypt, Iran, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Taiwan.
  • We have partnered key associations across the world, to help validate registrations and ensure that the best buyers attend the event. After these stringent quality checks, we have an impressive buyer to exhibitor ratio of 1.5 buyers: 1 exhibitor.
  • On the Corporate Travel Manager front, we have an encouraging turnout of 125 participants from 19 countries this year.

Based on your feedback, we are very happy to introduce a Delegates-Meet-Media system this year! Delegates can submit written requests at the brand new Pigeon-Hole feature at the Global Media Zone, stating which media they would like to meet. The meeting will then be scheduled as per the Media and the delegate’s mutual convenience.

The pigeon-hole is not the only new platform for interaction this year. We also have a 108sqm Hosted Delegates Lounge sponsored by Busan Metropolitan City as well as the Networking Zone which features a corporate gift showcase and a networking area for all delegates.

In an effort to reduce our eco foot print, as well as the load on your shoulders, we have thumb-drives for all media this year. These are pre-loaded with all the press releases, newsletters, event brochures and other media material so that you may have all necessary information at your fingertips. The daily press releases for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th October as well as event picture highlights captured the day before each business day will also be available on www.itcma.com and on the desktops of the computers at our well appointed Media Centre. For everything else, there is the internet, easily accessed with your personal free wi-fi passes.

Learning
We have always placed a lot of importance in the educational portion of our events. This is clearly visible in the quality of our seminars, conferences, and that of the organisations we partner with.

Τhe topics and speakers this year are specially selected to add great value to the seminar and conference sessions. We have a line up of 25 speakers and panelists from across the world covering our IT&CMA and CTW seminars, conferences and general sessions over the three days.

Once again, we have partnered with the Australian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE), the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) to conduct the Association Professional Competencies Certification course and Corporate Travel ExpertSM Certification course respectively. Incidentally, GBTA will be revamping their Corporate Travel certification course from 2012 onwards, and this is the last year that they will be offering the CTE certification.

GBTA will also be holding its 10th Global Travel Management Exchange Forum (GTMEF) for Travel Managers.

Networking
Nothing combines business and pleasure like our well planned social functions and networking activities.

Ι hope most of you registered for and attended at least one of our four pre-show city tours around our wonderful host city Bangkok yesterday. These tours were available only to international buyers and media.
 
Tonight, I look forward to seeing you all at the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Cocktails function at the InterContinental’s Grand Ballroom. Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) promise an extravaganza that is fitting for this celebration of our ten-year long partnership.

Tomorrow is packed with exciting functions, starting with the Hosted Luncheon by Presenting Destination – Singapore. This is our first-ever presenting destination and we look forward to your participation. This luncheon is followed by the MEHK Sun-Downer and Cocktail Reception hosted by Meetings Exhibition Hong Kong and later, the Hosted Dinner by Seoul Tourism Organisation. Then, end the business day with a late-night networking function co-hosted by TTG Asia and Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok.

On the 6th October, we will gather to raise our glasses to all the deserving winners at the 10th Sticky Awards lunch.
 
We also have four post-show tours around this beautiful country. These will take place from 7 to 9 October 2011.

Do refer to your programmes for the timings and venues for each of these functions.

What Is New At 2011
I have already shared many of our new initiatives with you i.e. our Enhanced Shell Scheme Booth and our brand new Hosted Delegates Lounge, Networking Zone and the Delegates-Meet-Media session; we hope these will give a fresh boost to delegate interaction on the exhibition floor.

We have also introduced the Bulletin Board where delegates can put up their questions which will be answered by the expert panel during the last CTW session. This board is located outside Lotus Room 5 & 6.

You can find a consolidated list of the 2011 new initiatives along with other key event information in the IT&CMA and CTW 2011 fact sheet.

Partnerships
IT&CMA and CTW’s success over the years and this year would not be possible without the support of our numerous partners who have worked dedicatedly and tirelessly to ensure that all our delegates receive a smooth and seamless IT&CMA and CTW experience.

Special mention must be given to Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) who has remained close partners with the IT&CMA and CTW organising team and have contributed invaluably to make IT&CMA and CTW one of the leading events in the world today. Without them, the 10 successful years of IT&CMA and CTW in Thailand, would not be possible.

Alongside TCEB, I would like to express the team’s thanks to all our Thai Partners whose loyalty and co-operation contributes greatly to IT&CMA and CTW’s growing success. They are:
–  Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
– Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA)
– Tourism Council of Thailand
– Airports Authority of Thailand (AOT)
–  Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)

Many thanks also goes to:
– Our host country – Thailand for 10 beautiful years in this wonderful country
– Our official carrier – Thai Airways International
– Official venue – Bangkok Convention Centre at CetralWorld
– Our 12 Official and Supporting hotels for their warm hospitality extended to our delegates.
– Our Endorsing and Supporting Associations:

  • Asian Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (AACVB)
  • The Australian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE)
  • The Canadian Society of Association Executives (CASE)
  • Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
  • International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO)
  • International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)
  • Meeting Professionals International (MPI)
  • Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

– Our Official Media – TTGmice, TTG-BTmice China, TTG Asia, TTG China and TTG India
– Our 28 Media Affiliates from around the world, who have promoted IT&CMA and CTW 2011 over the past year.

Further, acknowledgement must be given to the partners of this year’s initiatives that have enhanced the IT&CMA and CTW 2011 programme considerably with their cooperation and support. These include:
– IMEX and Meetings Professional International (MPI), who continue to be our long-standing partners to organise the Future Leaders Forum for Thailand’s bright students who are interested in making a career in the MICE industry .
– Rose Garden Riverside for extending their wonderful golf course and hospitality to us and co-sponsoring the Friendly Golf Game with Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).
– A special mention of Busan Metropolitan City for sponsoring our Hosted Delegates Lounge.
– Our generous CTW Gold Sponsor – Travelport, who has sponsored the attractive delegate notebooks for Corporate Travel World. .
– A special thanks also to our hosted events sponsors namely, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS), Meetings Exhibition Hong Kong (MEHK), Seoul Tourism Organisation (STO), and Presenting City – Singapore.
– Also as part of our continuing support for the Carry For Kids programme, we have once again chosen Lorenzo Home as our beneficiary. The home takes care of abandoned orphan children who also have to cope with the struggles of AIDS. Please visit booth L16, located near the registration counter, for more information.
– And to you, our media delegates for being here today. Thank you for your publicity and coverage of IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2011.

Going Forward In 2012
And lastly, I would like to share two very exciting pieces of news with you.

First – The new logo and identity of IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific. This logo will be used from 2012 onwards. I am very pleased to unveil the logo today, at this press conference.

  • With the new logo we want to bring a fresh perspective to both aspects of the IT&CMA and CTW event i.e. the MICE portion, IT&CMA and the corporate travel portion, CTW Asia-Pacific, while also re-establishing the fact that they are the two facets of a unified doublebill event.
  • IT&CMA continues to have the strong colours of red and blue to signify the strength of the MICE industry. The ampersand sign is now housed within a circle that signifies the holistic approach and all encompassing reach of this global event.
  • CTW has now come out of its box and stands along side IT&CMA as an equally strong portion of the doublebill. The earthy shades of green and blue have been chosen to symbolize CTW’s growing reach across the world.
  • This global scale and reach is reinforced by the new tag-line. No longer just ‘Asia’s Only Doublebill’, IT&CMA and CTW today proudly celebrates its position as The World’s Only Doublebill event.
  • This year’s theme, ‘Winning Asia and Beyond’ is the last time that the event will feature a theme. We believe that IT&CMA and CTW is now at a place where it needs to grow organically as part of the MICE and Corporate Travel industry, while also contributing to the industries’ very growth. Rather than narrowing this sentiment down to a single theme, going forward we want the event to stand by itself, for itself and for the industry and people it represents.

This feeling of new beginnings brings me to the second piece of news I want to share with you today. In August 2012, TTG Asia Media shall be adding another international MICE event to its fold. Yes ladies and gentlemen, we shall be launching IT&CM India in 2012.
– Adhering to the proven format of our events, IT&CM India shall be a MICE business, education and networking event that provides opportunities for ‘Promoting India to the World and the World to India’.
– It will also be the first in the IT&CM series of events and the only platform in the world that will offer international and leading Indian exhibitors and buyers to showcase and procure luxury travel. Next year, IT&CMA and CTW will also be adding luxury travel to its ambit.
– For more information, please refer to the IT&CM India brochure on your thumb drives. We will continue to give you the latest information over the coming months.

I wish you all a great IT&CMA and CTW 2011. Thank you for your time.

Editors - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Articles

TravelDailyNews Asia-Pacific editorial team has an experience of over 35 years in B2B travel journalism as well as in tourism & hospitality marketing and communications.

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