Mart Travel Buyers Pick the Best of Asia Pacific

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. October 14, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, September 28, 2005. PATA Travel Mart 2005 (PTM05) opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today with a total of 375 global buyers, representing 339 organisations from 54 countries on hand to meet 704 seller delegates representing 307 travel organisations from

37 countries.

Total floor space at the occupied by the sellers is 3,600 square metres net, slightly larger than the 3,590 sqm net in PTM04 in Bangkok.

There is an 8.7% increase in buyer delegates, representing 20% more countries.

On the seller side there was strong growth in representation from Australia, India, the Maldives and, as to be expected, Malaysia. There are 134 media delegates from 97 media organisations from 27 countries.

There are 42 buyer-seller appointments this year, up from 38 last year. All the space in the four exhibition halls of the brand new Kuala Lumpur Exhibition Hall in the city centre of the Malaysian capital was utilised.

The Mart includes three special workshops on Russia, China and India - the three source markets that will drive much of the tourism growth to Asia Pacific for decades to come.

PATA President and CEO Mr Peter de Jong cited PATA's continued successful repositioning of the Mart and strong strategic support from Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines as contributors to the success of the 2005 Mart.

"This year we've seen continued growth in buyers who are the people who send business and tourists to Asia Pacific. The Mart has also grown in stature with both buyers and sellers stressing the Mart's first-rate networking environment. The Russia, China and India sessions were sold out and all corporate sponsorship options taken up."

He reminded buyers and sellers at the opening reception last night that there had been a record number of international arrivals to Asia Pacific last year.

Malaysia, for example, welcomed nearly 16 million international visitors in 2004.

"PATA's Strategic Intelligence Centre predicts that in 2006, international arrivals to Malaysia will break the 20 million mark.

Malaysia's and the region's overall success is to be celebrated," he said.

"However, we must also reach out to our colleagues and counterparts who continue to struggle to recover to normal levels of business in the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 quake and tsunami.

"I would urge every delegate to reserve some time over the next three days to visit the sellers from the affected destinations."

The PATA Travel Mart is the leading networking and contracting show for the Asia Pacific travel industry. The Mart has been an annual fixture of the travel and tourism industry in Asia Pacific since 1978.