Here’s a look at the main new features.
“Listening to travel industry professionals to facilitate and optimise the experience of our exhibitors and visitors before, during and after the trade show by anticipating their needs is essential,” says Frédéric Lorin, Director of IFTM Top Resa. “With attendance up and increasingly qualified visitors, we wanted to provide new services and let the market’s professionals take full advantage of the opportunities available at our trade show.”
VILLAGES, THEMES & TOURS
New in 2019, 11 IFTM Top Resa Thematic Roads *
Each itinerary lists the exhibitors for a specific theme and their location at the trade show. They can be identified by specific pictograms and colours.
These turnkey routes help visitors find what they’re looking for, save time and meet the right people. Exhibitors can sign up to be featured on 3 different routes. Each itinerary includes exhibitors, conference sessions and specialised influencers.
Detailed information about these routes is available on the website, in the app and in a thematic booklet “Meeting roads” (bilingual) distributed at the trade show entrance and in the catalogue.
Emotions at the heart of the Innovation Village
As the travel industry increasingly moves over to digital technologies, innovation has become essential for remaining competitive and meeting the needs of each customer! Over the past 3 years, IFTM Top Resa has cemented its technological shift and this year it is launching the Innovation Village by Advanced Tourism. This space located in the heart of the TechZone will focus on inspiring creations, new technologies and the digitalisation of the travel industry, in the search for “smart” inspiration. Now more than ever, experience, acquisition and customer retention hinge on creating emotion.
This 100 m² space in the TechZone will feature over 10 innovative tourism products and solutions hand-picked by Sophie Lacour, CEO of Advanced Tourism and a leading expert on tourism of the future. What’s in store? Reading the minds of visitors, enabling them to fly through the air using virtual reality, igniting their senses, and more.
Coach operators in the spotlight with their own village
The FNTV and IFTM have designed this village as a networking space for travel agencies, tour operators, coach operators and group travel professionals in France and Europe within Destination France.
The 12 exhibitors will have individual 3 m2 desks arranged around a central island perfect for organising meetings within a professional, friendly and comfortable setting.
The space will also feature coaches on display to present their environmental benefits and service quality on site. There will also be conference sessions dedicated to issues and changes in the sector.
First edition of medical tourism
IFTM will examine this industry’s clientele and future potential. In addition to 4 exhibitors at the trade show, 3 conference sessions are planned on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10:45 to 11:30 in the Forum Room. They will include around fifteen professionals offering services and trips around the following themes: insurance required for these trips, mobility and patient care, and specific medical procedures. These initiatives will be assessed after the trade show.
COCKTAIL PARTIES, CONFERENCE SESSIONS & EVENTS
The Marco Polo Grand Prize – IFTM
Organised in collaboration with the think tank Marco Polo, this Grand Prize awards the most advanced companies in terms of CSR. Each professional can submit an application in one of the 5 following sectors: airlines, car rental companies, hotels, rail companies and a special out of competition prize, Entreprise Corpo (Corporate Enterprise). The Awards Ceremony will be held in the Business Club to round off the International Business Travel Days on Thursday 3 October.
The AFTM & IFTM Business Travel Night
AFTM and IFTM are launching the Business Travel Night in 2019 for sector professionals to let loose after the show in the Armenonville Pavilion on Wednesday 2 October, until 1 in the morning! We’re expecting over 800 guests for this first ever Business Travel Night. Don’t miss out!
This chic and fun cocktail dinner will be full of surprises and festivities.
English conference sessions
This year, all conference sessions in the ARENA and AGORA rooms will be translated into English. Using innovative technology, French or English sound will be retransmitted directly onto attendees’ smartphones for unparalleled comfort with no parasite noise! This will make the conference session content available to the 19% English speakers attending the trade show.
CEO Talks
Each day (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) in the ARENA room, from 12 noon to 12:30pm, IFTM will be turning the mic over to a top travel industry business leader: Anne Rigail, CEO of Air France on Tuesday, Nicolas Brusson, Co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar on Wednesday, and Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises on Thursday.
DIGITAL TOOLS
Our new app puts IFTM Top Resa at your fingertips
With today’s mobile culture, interactive solutions are a must! This new app (IFTM App) lets you prepare for the trade show and access a range of functions, information and personalised services at the right place, at the right time. It features an interactive map of the trade show with a route search function, the list of exhibitors and participants, real-time news of events and conference sessions, and more.
The IFTM App is also the perfect networking tool, with instant messaging, a calendar for suggesting and organising meetings, and more. It is the essential personal assistant!
An integrated badge reader! This optional function for exhibitors lets them avoid the hassle of collecting business cards. By scanning badge QR codes, exhibitors can immediately collect all their visitor’s information from their profile. It’s an absolute must for after the trade show, providing a complete database and sorted, qualified and personalised contact lists.
An optimised website and chatbot available 24/7
We’ve completely overhauled the services, ergonomics and content of www.iftm.fr website to make searches more user-friendly. For visitors, we’ve simplified the exhibitors list and the pass ordering process and given them a makeover.
Hello, I’m Fred! Our new chatbot is called Fred and he’s one smart cookie, with around 500 pre-recorded questions and answers. He provides visitors and exhibitors with relevant information about frequently asked questions.
The IFTM Top Resa online PRESSROOM – https://press.iftm.fr – has been redesigned!
This one-stop resource for journalists features all IFTM press information, as well as exhibitor news and press releases organised by zone and village.
* Focus on the 11 Thematic Roads
• Well-being and Health: preventative healthcare, destinations, destination management companies, and services to take care of customers.
• Business Travel: new services for business travel provided by the biggest and best in the industry.
• Culture & Heritage: covering the discovery of places steeped in history and cultural diversity, this itinerary brings together destinations and tourism professionals who give pride of place to the legacies of yesterday and today.
• Food & Wine: discover flavours from elsewhere, culinary specialities and the world’s best wines!
• Innovation: from digitalisation to artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality, discover the latest innovations for travellers.
• Alternative tourism: alternative tourism is more than just a fad, it’s a real trend, with off-the-beaten-track holidays and unique destinations.
• Luxury: the most beautiful destinations, tailor-made, personalised and premium service, and exceptional destinations to provide customers with unforgettable holidays.
• Mice: organisations, destination management companies, services and solutions offered by the leading professionals in the rapidly changing corporate events market.
• Sport & Adventure: discover sports and leisure activities, and sports event packages.
• Sustainable Tourism: this route is for exhibitors who take environmental, economic and social issues into consideration in their tourism options and services.
• Group Travel: whether by bus, train, boat or plane, embark on this journey and discover all the offers of various distribution networks.
