World’s first ISTM gets under way in Kitzbuhel
Delegates arrive for inaugural International Ski Travel Market in Austria
(Austria, March 17, 2014) The inaugural International Ski Travel Market (ISTM) opened this morning in Kitzbuhel in Austria, with industry representatives from all over the world sharing an exciting forum on the future of ski tourism.
Welcoming delegates, ISTM Exhibition Manager Peter Grimster said: “With key representatives from across the ski industry attending, the focus of ISTM is essentially to facilitate business and networking opportunities and through this event to provide a forum within which businesses can successfully develop and grow.”
ISTM organiser, Reed Travel Exhibitions, the world's leading events organiser in the travel and tourism industry, implemented a unique and innovative automated appointment matching system, through which buyers and suppliers were able to select who they were most keen to meet - a first in the ski industry.
Grimster added: “Our specialised pre-scheduled appointment (PSA) system has produced a programme of over 2,700 appointments due to take place over the next two days between 60 resorts, inbound ski travel suppliers and 60 leading outbound ski tour operators. This unique system translates into real business and a high return on investment for our exhibitors, not to mention a highly productive visit for our buyers.”
The first ever ISTM is being held at the prestigious five-star A-ROSA Hotel in Kitzbuhel. “The correlation between attracting quality buyers and delivering a quality host hotel experience has been a major factor in driving interest and guaranteeing the attendance of key travel industry players. The host venue is instrumental in the success of ISTM,” commented Grimster.
Uwe Schramm, General Manager of the A-ROSA Kitzbuhel said; "We are very proud that the A-ROSA Kitzbuhel was selected as the place to host the event. We are excited to welcome the industry to our resort and are looking forward to two exciting and eventful days of meeting and greeting partners. I believe that ISTM is of huge importance to the industry and anyone attending this exclusive b2b event will certainly profit from their participation."
Acknowledging the breadth of ISTM participants, Holger Gassler, International Marketing Manager of Tirol Tourist Board adds: “There are key representatives from across the ski industry signed up for the first ever ISTM and the buzz here at the event continues to generate excitement right across the global ski travel industry. Buyers are excited about the quality of suppliers attending – and the suppliers are seeing an outstanding caliber of exhibitors here in Tirol.”
Over the next two days there is also an exciting programme of familiarisation tours planned for buyers. This includes highlights such as dinner at the award-winning Restaurant Rosengarten in Kirchberg in Tyrol, as well as skiing with experienced guides in the Kitzbuhel Ski Resort, off-piste skiing with locally born Freeride World Tour rider Matthias Haunholder and a trip around picturesque Kitzbuhel.
Gerhard Walter, Managing Director of Kitzbuhel Tourist Board added; “We are honoured that ISTM is celebrating its premiere here in our legendary town with over 120 years of skiing history. It’s an invaluable opportunity to present the resort to a focused audience of key buyers. We hope that the business meetings are productive and that they all take many unforgettable memories away with them.”
To discover more about the inaugural ISTM and how it is offering the perfect platform for debating the industry’s hottest topics, engaging with peers and generating new business, please visit www.istm.co.uk
For all press enquiries please contact:
Lynsey Devon, Heaven Publicity
Phone: 44 (0)20 3544 1563
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@HeavenPublicity
About Reed Travel Exhibitions ISTM is owned by the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE). Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
The 19 events are; World Travel Market (WTM), World Travel Market Latin America (WTM Latin America), Arabian Travel Market (ATM), International French Travel Market Top Resa (IFTM), International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), International Ski Travel Market (ISTM), International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), International Luxury Travel Market Asia (ILTM Asia), International Luxury Travel Market Americas (ILTM Americas), International Luxury Travel Market Africa (ILTM Africa), International Luxury Travel Market Japan (ILTM Japan), International Luxury Travel Market Spa (ILTM Spa), Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) (owned by Melbourne Convention Visitors Bureau), Global Exhibition for Incentive, Business Travel, and Meetings (EIBTM), Gulf Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (GIBTM), Americas Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (AIBTM), China Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (CIBTM), India Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings (IBTM India) and Business Travel Market.
September 2013 will see the launch of IBTM India in Mumbai, India. While 2014 sees an exciting launch in the ski travel sector, with International Ski Travel Market in March 2014 followed by the all new Africa Travel Week – which includes WTM Africa, IBTM Africa and ILTM Africa.
RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions.
About Reed Exhibitions Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organizer, with over 500 events in 39 countries. In 2011 Reed brought together six million active event participants from around the world, generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organized by 33 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 44 industry sectors with trade and consumer events and is part of the Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world-leading publisher and information provider and a FTSE 100 company. www.reedexpo.com
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