Virtual trade shows: Is this the future?

TravelMole guest comment by Andrew J Wood, general manager of Chaophya Park Hotel and Resort, Thailand

As ITB 2006 drew to a close I reflected on yet another busy week in a cold and wet Berlin.

Reputed to be the worlds largest travel show, it truly is a monster.

Its success is drawn on a number of factors: The timing is ideal to finalise contracts for next year and just by being there shows you are committed to the international market place and are prepared to invest time and effort.

Buyers get to know you are a serious player in the field of international tourism marketing.

Many hotels in Thailand however are quite happy to focus their effort on the local market. Printing brochures and sales material in Thai language only, they have yet to experience the hustle and bustle of an international trade show.

They are happy with the niche that they have carved out in a sometimes crowded market place. Maybe the hotel or attraction is up-country and off the beaten track, little known by the international buyer. Ideal, say, for a local management seminar or a team building weekend.

But for those of us that are riding the mainstream of a fast and ever changing current, ITB is a must attend show, so much so that even the Tourism Authority of Thailand bring out the big guns and HRH Princess Ubolratana is often called upon to act as an official tourism ambassador.

The show however is so huge one feels a little lost. Certainly for first timers it is over whelming.

Prepare also for crowded planes, crowded airports, cold weather, (it snowed again this year), bad food, poor and expensive accommodation (a three-star Berlin hotel costs approximately Bt7,000 per night (£103) with breakfast, a four-star hotel Bt10,000+ (£147) and a five-star hotel approximately Bt12,000+ (£177) per night.

In addition, there are long walks between halls, long taxi queues and sitting around on buses taking a round-about route to your “official” hotel.

A specialty of this year’s ITB was lost luggage. Between March 6-12 over 3,000 bags belonging to ITB delegates were misplaced.

Who said travel was glamorous!

During the ASEAN Tourism Forum, which took place in Davao City, Philippines, in January, there was an excellent presentation on the future of tourism by Mr Rohit Talwar, futurist and motivational speaker.

He spoke on the future of tourism and what the tourist of the 22^nd century might experience. Supersonic travel and space travel were touched on. It is a reasonably safe bet that flying cars will be available a hundred years from now, along with airship hotels, capable of flying to different holiday locations without the need to re-pack.

Virtual travel was also discussed. Experiencing the essence of travel without actually leaving your home. Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s film “Total Recall”, with his virtual trip to Mars, springs to mind.

As I was standing on the Thailand stand in Hall 26b (I told you it was big!) my mind started to think about the speaker in Davao.

What if we could have virtual tradeshows? Just think. No travel and no need to be away from the office for weeks at a time. All the Thai delegates could go to the TAT office or a hotel ballroom and have a dedicated video conference with all the buyers and sellers having a private one-on-one conference call for 10-15 minutes and then moving on to the next appointment/caller.

Those needing further time could arrange private sessions at a time suitable to both parties. Follow-up could then be conducted in the same way as today. The cost would be ‘manageable’ and the productivity huge.

So what’s stopping us? I would guess the two immediate hurdles would be the current cost of the hardware. Video conference costs for eight hours a day is still high. 

The potential software issue is the human factor – people genuinely like doing business face-to-face. It is something that should never be underestimated.

I do however believe that technology has a part to play and I for one will not miss waiting in the snow for that ever-elusive Berlin taxi…but I might miss the guests (and the revenue), whose need for accommodation to attend a trade show might also change.