Important meetings at this years TUR
The tourism industry may have suffered some tough years of recession, but TUR continues to grow. If not in size, then in status and importance to the industry.
“This year’s fair will definitely not be a low budget event, and the presence of the Swedish Minister for Communications clearly shows the importance of tourism to Sweden, and the importance of the TUR fair to tourism,” says Per Magnusson, Deputy Exhibition Manager, TUR.
“There has been no shortage of headlines on the effects of the recession on the travel industry. It was not until the early 2010s that a new optimism started to emerge in the industry, and this is now making itself felt in the arrangements for this year’s TUR,” says Per Magnusson.
All the key players will be there, and all the major organisations will be holding important meetings during TUR. “We can see that the industry regards TUR as its natural meeting place. A lot of people recognise that it’s a wise move to invest as a recession nears its end. This is especially true when it comes to creating and nurturing personal contacts as a basis for tomorrow’s working relationships,” says Per Magnusson.
“Furthermore, the interest shown by our politicians demonstrates that our industry is an industry of the future that generates growth. Our Growth Day on the Wednesday, will be attended by Swedish Minister for Communications Åsa Torstensson. And the political forum during Meetings@TUR on the Friday has attracted a lot of interest.”
Roger Kellerman, who is in charge of the seminar programme during Meetings@TUR believes that, until the market has stabilised, it is vital to exploit the growing interest in the meetings industry.
“This will be achieved through even more initiatives at Meetings@TUR during the TUR fair. One of the things we’ll be doing will be to focus on the connection between the meetings industry and the big climate conference COP15, held in Copenhagen in December 2009,” he says.
The Seychelles and Montenegro are two of the countries making their first appearance at TUR. Other very positive indicators are that France and Finland will be back, and that the popular tourist destination Greece has chosen TUR as the sole fair it will exhibit at in Scandinavia. This year’s TUR fair will bring together the same number of countries as last year.