Singapore to host Asian tourism festival

October 2011 will witness Singapore hosting a major travel and tourism festival to showcase business opportunities in the upcoming Asian market, according to a report by AFP.

andnbsp;Known as TravelRave 2011, the event will be held from October 17 to 23, 2011 and will string together a cluster of related events. Organized by the Singapore Tourism Board, it is a follow-up to the first TravelRave held in 2010, that drew close to 8,000 people.

The event includes an ITB Asia Travel Fair, a retreat for policymakers and industry leaders hosted by the UN World Tourism Organization, a conference on hotel and tourism investment, and an annual meeting of Asian convention and travel bureaus.

Aw Kaw Peng, Head, Singapore Tourism Board, said it was the only "mega tourism and travel festival" in a region that saw 13 per cent growth in the number of international visitors in 2010 as compared to 2009.

andnbsp;Peng also said that co-locating related conventions and conferences was intended "to make it even more productive for business executives." "Asia-Pacific will continue to lead the global recovery in tourism with double-digit increases in both arrivals and tourism revenues,” Peng added.

Source = travelbizmonitor