What are you doing third quarter 2003?

Market research can be a very useful tool for any business planner and strategist, but what if companies in similar fields, appoint different market researchers, to do the same type of research, at the same time, on the same topic ?!

Presumably, we hope, the results should all be similar. This is the only reason we can think of that the travel exhibition industry, an industry where participants are looking far more closely than ever before at the costs involved in attending shows, would decide to have so many shows from September to end November. 

Anyone who attends travel trade shows of any description, knows that they can be invaluable, but that they are also extremely expensive, and highly time consuming. It is a difficult choice deciding which trade shows to attend, and which to miss, as it is not simply the return on investment that needs to be considered but also the invaluable networking opportunities which are far harder to value. With the recent downturn in business and possibility of a new war looming, these considerations are more important than ever.

So which shows will you be attending in 2003 ? Thankfully there will always be some must attend shows which are perfectly spread out such as the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) which takes place this year in Cambodia (January 25-28), the mammoth ITB in Berlin (March 7-11), the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) (May 6-9) which opens so many important doors to the highly lucrative Middle Eastern markets, and ultimately the World Travel Market in London (November 10-13). 

This is not to say the other shows are not worth attending, different participants will have different markets and segments to consider, but let's take a quick look at this staggering choice of events between September to end November 2003  which it would seem is the most popular time to host an event : 

ABTM - September 3 - 5 (China) (new show)

La Cumbre - September 10 - 12 (America)

Mediterranean Travel Fair - September 16 - 18 (Egypt)

Top Resa - 25-27 September (France)

PATA Travel Mart - October 1 - 3 (Singapore) (revised show and moved from April)

CIS Travel Market - October 1 - 4 (Russia)

JATA World Travel Fair - October 3 - 5 (Japan) (moved from December)

ICCA Exhibition - November 2 - 5  (Republic of Korea)

ITCMA - November 4 - 6 (Thailand) (moved from October)

WTM - November 10-13 (London)

CITM - November 14 - 17 (China)

EIBTM - (2004) - November 30 - 2 December (Spain) (moved from May)

(The above are shows between September to end December, please take a look at our Calendar of Travel Trade Shows for the entire year)

Of course some organisers will say they are targeting a specific niche group from within the travel industry, for example meetings or corporate, but they still all have one thing in common and that is there should be a good amount of hotels,  government tourism bodies etc exhibiting, and that they need qualified and professional buyers there to make the show a success.

Each of the above shows may well offer something unique, but unless you have exceedingly large budgets attending them all will not be an option and with the second largest travel trade show in the world (WTM) amongst them all, some may well find 2003 a difficult year.