Singapore - Asia's premier MICE (meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions) and corporate travel show - Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) and Corporate Travel World (CTW) Asia-Pacific - have attracted 500 buyers and corporate travel managers this year, an increase of 34 per cent over last year.
This is the first year the two shows are being held in Pattaya, Thailand, and the second year they are co-located.
Organised by TTG Asia Media from October 11 to 13 at the Pattaya Exhibition & Convention Hall, the number of conference delegates who have registered has also gone up from 218 last year to 300.
The number of exhibiting companies remains the same at 300.
New exhibitors include the Government of Dubai's Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing; Middle Eastern carrier, Etihad; South African convention centre, Sun International; the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, and The Dome at State Tower, a Bangkok-based f&b complex.
TTG Asia Media's manager, exhibitions/events, Ms Phila Tan, said: "We have arranged the sessions such that within a compact three days, participants will walk away with everything they need to know about managing corporate travel.
"We have arranged transfers between Bangkok and Pattaya for all participants."
The programme was developed in consultation with the US-based National Business Travel Association (NBTA), which is also partnering the show organisers to hold the fourth Global Travel Management Exchange Forum, which is only open to bona fide corporate travel managers.
Feedback from a survey conducted after last year's show was also taken seriously in order to improve the show further.
Programme highlights include an entire track dedicated to association meetings and a case study of the staging of the International Olympic Committee Session in Singapore.
This year will also be the first time CTW is offering certification courses conducted by NBTA. The three Fast Track to Certification sessions will cover topics on Request-for-Proposal (RFP), Contract Negotiation and Travel Managers' Best Practices.
Another programme change is a dedicated networking session for CTW delegates and corporate travel suppliers, who will be able to network over a coffee break followed by a specially scheduled CTW Tabletop Exhibition on the first day. On the second and third days, CTW delegates will have time to visit the IT&CMA exhibition.
