1.
Shobha Menon
– Cochin University Of Science And Technology, Cochin, India
2.
Manoj Edward
– Cochin University Of Science And Technology, Cochin, India
Abstract
Trade fairs are fastly becoming a very popular marketing communication tool. Participating in trade shows is an
increasingly important marketing activity for many companies in the tourism industry. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the
usefulness of trade shows and the special nature of travel trade shows and to highlight the different objectives for firms to exhibit. The 7th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), Cochin, the first destination specific tourism
trade show in India, provided a focus for a study of exhibit objectives in an emerging market. A survey was conducted among
exhibitors to KTM12 in September 2012 and the results analyzed and compared with findings of similar studies in other countries.
Keywords Travel Trade shows/exhibitions, Objectives, Motivations, Exhibitors, Kerala
