Show Profile
UITT is Ukraine’s largest exhibition for the travel industry. The event has become a regular meeting place for the industry and an opportunity for destinations to showcase the best their country has to offer to an increasing number of Ukrainian travellers, as well as tour operators and travel agents.
This year, UITT introduces three new destinations, Abu Dhabi, Réunion and South Africa. In addition, Morocco will participate for the first time as the winner of UITT’s ‘wild card’ initiative. Egypt, Israel and Czech Republic have all increased their stands at UITT, whilst other confirmed destinations include: Dubai, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Spain, France, Cyprus, Slovakia, China, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Thailand, Malaysia, Spain, Czech Republic, Cuba, Slovenia, Tunisia, Dominican Republic, Maldives, Seychelles, UK, India, Georgia, Hungary, Mauritius and Tanzania.
Europe continues to have a strong presence at the show, investing in the future and demonstrating their confidence in the Ukrainian market. According to Event Director, Maria Badakh, “Ukraine has struggled through the global crisis but confidence in the long-term growth of the tourism market is strong, particularly amongst European destinations, who have retained the same size stands as in previous years. We are also pleased to welcome Hungary back to UITT. One factor that is boosting European participation in the event, is the cancellation of visa requirements for European travellers staying for less than 180 days. In addition, the country’s own tourism industry is seeing a healthy upturn due to plans for the country’s hosting of the Euro 2012 football tournament.”
UITT is officially supported by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Family Affairs, Youth Policy, Sport and Tourism; the State Service for Tourism and Resorts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine; and the Kiev City Administration. UITT is also a member of the International Tourism Trade Fairs Association (ITTFA), the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the Central European Countries Travel Association (CECTA) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA. The exhibition also has ‘UFI Approved’ status (UFI is the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry).
Official media sponsors of UITT 2010 are: International Tourism Magazine, Voyage Publishing Company and Caribbean News Digital.
UITT takes place alongside Hotel & Restaurant Expo Ukraine, CleanExpo Ukraine and Brand4Rent. This gives exhibitors an opportunity to attract a wider audience whilst also benefiting from a targeted promotional campaign.
Highlights of the 2010 event
An international conference entitled ‘Spa in Ukraine ‘10’, organised jointly with the Ukrainian Spa Association on 24 March.
The 4th edition of the international business forum ‘Small Hotels & Apartments of Ukraine’, organised with the Association of Small Hotels & Apartments of Ukraine on 25 March.
The 5th edition of the MICE Ukraine international conference entitled ‘Business Tourism – Ukraine’, which will give delegates an insight into the industry, its audience, trends and prospects. It will also give participants a valuable opportunity to network with their peers.
A section of the show will be dedicated to the growing market for medical tourism.
Information and quotes from this year’s exhibitors:
Open Up Kiev has been on the market in Ukraine for five years. AT UITT 2010, they will be promoting Switzerland, China, Germany, France and Italy to the Ukrainian market. According to Kirill Andreev, “We choose UITT because it is one of the main meetings for the tourism industry in Ukraine. The market in Ukraine is very important for our company.”
7° South Ltd. has taken part in UITT since 2006. The company will be promoting a wide range of tailor-made services, including hotels in the Seychelles, transfers, excursions, nature trails, yachting, fishing, diving, golf, weddings, etc. According to Genevieve, “We are a pioneer in the development of the Eastern European market to Seychelles. We diverted our marketing strategy to Ukraine and its neighbouring countries because we saw the potential (to escape the cold winters) and, to date, it has proved very productive for us, more so because our competitors had already monopolised Central and Western Europe “
Kuoni Travel Ltd. is exhibiting for the fourth time at UITT. The company has a sales office in Moscow, which is responsible for sales throughout Russia and Ukraine. This year, they will be promoting a wide range of destination and event management services. According to Julia Lyubchenko, Senior Sales Manager, “This is an opportunity for us to meet existing and potential clients, to see what is happening in the market, to get acquainted with new trends and changes and to feel the atmosphere in the local travel industry. We consider the Ukrainian travel market as having great prospects and growing. We have been doing good business with Ukrainian travel agents in terms of providing a professional DMC service for their corporate clients as well as serving individual travellers through our online reservation system all over the world. We are going to extend our business relations and support our agents as much as we can.”
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has exhibited at UITT since 1997 This year, The Tourism Authority of Thailand will be celebrating its 50th anniversary by organising a series of events and festivals on their stand. They will also be highlighting a number of new leisure destinations: Ko Chang, North-Eastern Thailand, beaches of Rayong and Phang-Nga provinces, and special programmes for medical tourism, including spas and sports (golf, yachting, trekking, cycling, etc). According to Gennady Tomilin, Marketing Officer in the Moscow Office, “UITT is Ukraine’s Number 1 travel exhibition and participating in UITT complies with TAT’s strategic plan for maintaining the leisure market in Ukraine. TAT plans to increase advertising and promotional activity on the Ukrainian travel market, supporting local tour operators in promoting Thailand as the main tourist whole-year destination in South East Asia. We also plan to print a series of brochures in the Ukrainian language and organise workshops in several cities of Ukraine to promote the new destinations in Thailand.”
Dhow and Jeep Tours, Zanzibar, Tanzania is taking part for the first time in UITT, offering safaris in the national parks in the Tanzania Northern Circuit, climbing programmes for Kilimanjaro and Meru, combined group tours including climbings+safari+beach vacations. They will also be promoting beach vacations in Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia, as well as excursions and transfers. According to Mayya Lobova, Sales and Marketing Manager, “Recently, we have noticed a big demand for touristic services in Eastern Africa from Ukraine, so we have decided to apply for UITT in order to establish new connections in this prospective market. At present, we are focused on the expansion of our services and promotion of Tanzania and Zanzibar as a great holiday destinations.”
Lets Go Maldives Pvt Ltd is taking part in UITT for the fourth time, representing over 70 Maldivian resorts. The company is well known for its luxury and exclusive resorts but also offers family and budget resorts. A number of new resorts will be introduced to the Ukrainian market, including Alila Villas Hadahaa Maldives, Centara Grand Island Resort and SPA, Robinson Club, and Shangri-la’s Villingili Resort and SPA. According to Maria Svistunova, Sales Executive for the company, “We believe it is important for us to exhibit at UITT, because the Ukraine market is one of our strongest markets and we’d like to promote ourselves further and find future partners. Maldives is becoming more and more popular amongst Ukrainian, Russian and CIS upper and middle class customers. In the first part of 2010, the market is again developing step by step – [we] believe that the situation in market is stabilising.”
Egypt has been participating in UITT since the show was first launched. The country hopes to attract more tourists from Ukraine by offering a wider variety of transportation, accommodation and service. This year, Egypt will be presenting its new brand image, highlighting the personal experience Egypt can offer. According to Ismail A. Hamid, Egyptian Tourist Attache-Moscow, “UITT is one of the most important professional occasions in the Ukrainian market. The exhibition is well organised and popular, attracting more visitors every year. Over the last three years, the Ukrainian market has grown rapidly thanks to the efforts of our partners – the main tour operators in Ukraine. That growth has taken Ukraine to the no. 8 position in terms of the top tourist markets to Egypt in 2008.
Tourism Malaysia plans to introduce Malaysia to the Ukrainian tourism market and network with industry players and authorities. According to Ammar Abd. Ghapar, “We are positioning Malaysia as a ‘value for money’ destination. Highlights will be its modern city, shopping paradise and beaches. Ukraine is one of the most important markets in CIS. There was a positive growth last year compared to the previous year […]. We are optimistic about the market’s development and will introduce more products and work with more airlines for better accessibility in the future.”
Ile de la Réunion Tourisme is taking part in UITT for the first time this year. According to Stephane Bonneau, Délégué Commercial Europe, “Ukrainian tour operators are more and more interested in selling Reunion Island. We will be presenting general information about the Island: accommodation, activities, food, population, professional contacts… We receive a lot of demand from Ukrainian tour operators and we look forward to discovering the importance of this market for our destination.”
The Dominican Republic Tourism Board (the office for Russia and Ukraine) has been participating in UITT since 2005. According to Alexandra Streltsova, Director Assistant of the Tourism Board of the Dominican Republic, “This market is still very young and our destination is positioned as a beach destination as yet but we hope in future to develop different niches: cultural tourism, diving, golf, extreme sports, luxury tourism, ecotourism […]. In Ukraine, the Dominican Republic is in the top ten of travel destinations. We do hope that in spite of the economic crisis, this market will be growing and developing. We, as the representatives of the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism, will give any possible support to the market and its players.”
