Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB Asia, has announced that registration for this year’s hosted buyer programme is now open.

ITB Asia’s hosted buyer programme provides exclusive business meeting opportunities for international and regional senior level buyers and decision makers who are sourcing for new destinations, travel products and services at the show.

Buyers interested in attending ITB Asia this year can submit their hosted buyer applications online at www.itb-asia.com starting from today. To ensure that only the highest quality buyers will enter the pre-scheduled appointment system, each applicant will be subject to a rigorous validation process led by Ms Siti Banding, Assistant Director Buyers Programme for Messe Berlin (Singapore).

“The ITB Asia Hosted Buyer Programme is renowned for its top quality buyers and reputation of generating genuine business leads. Last year, 83% of our buyers secured contract with exhibitors at the show The programme has proven increasingly popular year-on-year and continually attracts large numbers of top quality buyers,” said Nino Gruettke, Executive Director of ITB Asia.

In an independent post-ITB Asia 2010 survey, 95% of buyers who responded said they are interested to come back this year and 98% will recommend the ITB Asia hosted buyer programme to their professional colleagues.

This year’s programme will also see the introduction of a new category of partial hosted buyers. With the addition of the new category, buyers with tight travelling schedules can enjoy more flexibility to participate in the programme and manage their appointment schedules.

Partial hosted buyers can choose to attend ITB Asia 2011 on any two days of the three day show. They are also required to attend a total of 15 appointments for the two days at the show, as compared to the 30 appointments fully hosted buyers have to fulfil. The appointment system ensures buyers meet the people they most desire to do business with at ITB Asia.

Partial-hosted buyers will enjoy similar benefits as fully hosted buyers, excluding airfares. These include premium hotel accommodation, exclusive invites to key industry networking events, complimentary access to the Web-In-Travel (WIT) conference and admission to ITB Berlin 2012.

“The partial hosted buyer category is conceptualised based on feedback from buyers who are unable to commit to the full programme but yet do not want to miss out on this excellent platform for doing business at ITB Asia 2011. They also requested for more flexibility to participate in panel discussions and conferences such as Associations Day. With the new partial buyer category, over 600 top quality buyers representing the MICE, leisure and corporate travel markets will be invited to attend ITB Asia this year,” said Gruettke.

ITB Asia 2010 broke buyer records with 580 top-quality hosted buyers from over 40 countries attending the four-day show.

ITB Asia 2011, the leading trade show for the Asian travel market, is in its fourth year and will be held from 19 – 21 October 2011 at Suntec Singapore. Last year, the show attracted 6,605 attendees and 720 exhibitors from over 60 countries.