HYDERABAD: From the backwaters down south in Kerala to the beach side sunbathing in Goa to the exotic cuisine and temples in Thailand and the pyramids of Egypt, the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) has it all. The annual fair which tours across 10 cities in the country, is in its 22nd year and 87th edition. Conducted by Fairfest Media and the Outbound Travel Mart, the fair is an initiative to give marketing oppotunities to tourist destinations.TTF has stalls from over 170 parties, including 19 Indian states, the Union Territories, and seven countries including Egypt, Turkey, Maldives, Thailand, Dubai, Kenya and Malaysia. It also includes hospitality desks, farmhouse resorts, hoteliers, travel agents, river-side resorts and even an African safari guide. The fair’s expanse and popularity is a testimony to the strong growth in the tourism department and the changing Indian attitude towards vacationing. Organisers expect a 10,000 strong crowd to turn up for the event. This year’s TTF was inaugurated by the State minister for tourism, Vasant Kumar, in the presence of commissioner for tourism, Sabyasachi Ghosh, CEO of Fairfest Media Sanjiv Agarwal and the vice chairman and managing director for Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, Sandeep Kumar Sulthania. While adressing the press conference on Friday in the city, minister Vasant Kumar said, “There is a dire need to promote tourism in India and to bring about a unified collaborative effort in doing so. While this is a wonderful opportunity for stakeholders (in the industry) to come together, I hope our commissioner and the managing director will work to ensure that Andhra Pradesh be given better attention.” He also commented on the fact that though Andhra Pradesh has the highest tourist percentage, most of this comes from pilgrims travelling to Tirupathi. In this regard, he hoped an improvement would be worked upon. Talking about the market and the fair, CEO of Fairfest Media, Sanjiv Agarwal said, “Since we pioneered this fair 20 years ago, we have seen a 20 per cent growth in the market almost every year. The traditional Indian takes a vacation as a family and is willing to spend for the same.” Also, the fact that India has developed into an economic power house coupled with the work pressure from IT cos, more people are turning to vacationing.TTF, that kick-started on July 8 for the traders, opens up for the public on July 9 and 10, from 11 am to 7 pm at the HITEX.
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