Travel Events: Exploding Market Boosts Shows

By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 4/25/2005

There's a multitude of reasons why U.S. consumer travel shows are becoming as congested as airport lines around Thanksgiving — despite rising gasoline prices, a weak U.S. dollar and the glut of travel information on the Internet.

Some of these reasons include the time passed since Sept. 11, an improved economy, increased consumer confidence and discounted travel rates. They all contribute to consumers' pent-up desire to travel, whether for a domestic jaunt or global journey.

According to the Travel Industry Assn. of America's most recent forecast, Americans should take nearly 223 million leisure person-trips this spring. Although this is only a 1-percent increase over last spring, it is nearly 7 percent higher than spring 2003 and nearly 10 percent higher than the spring of 2000.

And even though the Internet offers an immeasurable amount of travel information at one's fingertips, vacationers are flocking to travel shows to seek on-site discounts, in-person advice from renowned travel experts and some simplification of the glut of Internet travel content.

Betsy O'Rourke, TIA senior vice president of marketing, said that, even with high gas prices and daunting exchange rates, Americans "might change their destination somewhat but it doesn't stop them from traveling," and travel shows help them pinpoint their itineraries.

O'Rourke said she believes that niche travel sectors are making the growing shows even busier these days. Popular travel segments that have grown substantially post-9/11 include reunion travel, well-being vacations, voluntourism outings and soft adventure trips (like hiking and fly fishing). These may be helping tourism board exhibitors expand their offerings, O'Rourke noted.

The post-9/11 traveler has evolved, and believes he or she deserves quality R&R. "We have the ability to go where we want and we like to exercise that freedom," said O'Rourke. "We have a God-given right to travel."

Plus, noted Los Angeles Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm, consumers "have developed a whole new skill set that has changed the way they travel. I travel completely different now than I did before 9/11," she said, adding that she wears slip-on shoes to airports and, because of new security precautions, makes sure that, "if I'm wearing a jacket, I wear something underneath."

Because of these new consumer adaptations, some public travel show managers have seen double-digit growth for their shows; others have launched new regional editions of their flagship events.

Unicomm CEO John Golicz manages the Adventures in Travel Expos and has experienced both changes.

"Our shows are growing like weeds," Golicz said. "Consumers are looking for more active lifestyles and vacations."

The Milford, Conn.-based firm launched the first Adventures in Travel Expo in January 2004 in New York, attracting 22,000 consumers to 500 exhibitors. Unicomm immediately began developing annual shows in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, and has since expanded to Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles. The January New York show drew 33,000 consumers to 800 booths.

"We're very bullish on the market," Golicz said.

Because of the popularity of the Adventures in Travel shows, exhibiting tourism boards are increasing their booth spaces, helping grow the shows even more, he added.

The annual Los Angeles Times Travel Show is also witnessing staggering growth. The Jan. 29–30 show at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention & Entertainment Center attracted nearly 13,000 consumers to a 200,000 net square foot showfloor, up from 10,800 visitors in 2004.

"There's a lot of benefit to going to the show," said Violet Gonzalez, the show's event sales manager. Exhibitors offered consumers substantial discounts if they purchased some travel packages at the show. There are some exhibitors there, she said, "that make it appealing."

Gonzalez added that the attendance spurt might have been partly due to on-site discount advertisements on the publication's Web site. "People take advantage of that," she said. Plus, it helps that the L.A. Times show's seminars are "strictly non-commercial."

Hamm said the seminars without sales pitches and educated exhibitors offer consumers "an opportunity to interact with other human beings and to get a more personal touch."

Sure, the Internet most likely offers the same information, but the travel show presents a value for future travelers looking for exhibitors "whittling it down and making sure that they (consumers) are getting the most current information," she said.

Consumer travel shows are also prospering outside the United States, specifically in Europe, home to one of the largest shows in this sector, ITB Berlin.

The recent March 11–15 edition of the combination trade and public show drew 142,351 attendees, up slightly from 141,139 in 2004, and nearly half of the show's attendees are consumers. They visited a record number of 10,409 exhibitors at Messe Berlin.

Cris Schumacher, sales manager for Fredericksburg, Va.-based B-FOR Intl., organizer of the See America pavilion at ITB, credits the strong euro for the increased popularity of the show and the pavilion, since travel to the United States is now at a highly discounted rate.

And although TIA forecasts that inbound travel to the United States will increase by 4.5 percent this year, Schumacher said it has been challenging to educate the European market at ITB with the new U.S. Homeland Security measures.

The pavilion's 200-plus exhibitors try to convey to attendees that "it's not this Fortress America" and that traveling to the country "is not a painstaking process."

The global travel bug isn't expected to diminish. For the United States alone, TIA forecasts that total travel expenditures by U.S. residents and international visitors will reach $652.9 billion in 2006, up from a forecasted $624.1 billion for 2005.