Thirty Indian buyer organisations will be present. China will send 40 travel buyers, including 20 from the independent China Travel Service, the biggest wholesale tour operator in China.

A total of 310 buyer delegates from 228 organisations in 51 markets have so far registered for PTM, which takes place September 6-9.

PATA Interim CEO, Mr Bill Calderwood, said: “From a hard-nosed business perspective, PATA Travel Mart is a very compelling proposition this year. The Mart has been fine tuned to deliver focused quality-controlled buyer-seller negotiations, first hand experiences of new products and services, and vital briefings to build better business decisions.”

Of the 77 seller organisations from India, 31 will be first-time exhibitors. Ten Indian states will be represented and nine Chinese entities including Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Kunming, Nanjing, Qinghai, Shenzhen, the China National Tourism Administration, and numerous private sector hotels and tour operators.

All the buyers at PTM will meet with more than 520 sellers from 278 organisations in 31 destinations. A large delegation of sellers from Japan will be there to underline the Mart’s strong participation from China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei. Japan has reaffirmed that it is open and ready for business with participation by the PATA Japan Chapter, JTB Corp and the Japan Hotel Association.

To ensure quality meetings on the show floor, all PTM buyer delegates have been carefully vetted by an independent buyer selection committee to maximise successful contracting opportunities. The ideal ratio of confirmed buyers and sellers means that PATA can guarantee 38 appointments to the vast majority of sellers. 

The largest number of buyers at PATA Mart will still be from the affluent European market, which is currently booking a lot of new business in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives.