PATA Mart 2000 (PTM 2000) is expected to grow by 15 per cent over 1999's show.
REED Travel Exhibitions (RTE) global director Tom Nutley expects 350 sellers from 40 countries to participate in PTM 2000. Malaysia is the feature country for the mart.
Three new regional groupings, namely the South Pacific, the Mekong area, and Latin America, have signed up for country pavilions.
This growth is part of RTE's plan to build the social, business and education elements of PTM to establish it as Pacific Asia's premier travel trade event, says Nutley.
"To establish an event as an industry event, we need to ensure three elements. PTM in part had a good social event, small niche business and no education.
"The challenge now is to build the business and education element of the mart.
"If it had not been for the economic crisis, we could have established it in three years. It will now take us another three years from the next event to build it as a premier event."
To achieve this, RTE has formed four taskforces - on buyers, social and entertainment, feature country, and education.
Explaining the inbound-outbound nature of the show, Nutley says that as tourism is a two-way industry, events need to represent both aspects of the trade. "The focus will always primarily be on the inbound market, focusing on buyers with Asia Pacific interests. But buyers don't just deal with one-way tourism. PATA has recognised that two-way tourism is important, and to service its members' needs, there has to be an outbound component to the mart too."
Buyer quality will also be improved at PTM 2000, but Nutley says the main challenge is ensuring the mart has a fair system that allows buyers and sellers to meet.
While 5,000 buyers have been invited, Nutley warns that as the number of companies declines due to consolidation and mergers, there are fewer buyers with less time.
Nutley says, "In three years time, we will be happy if the mart grows by 15 per cent per year, doubling the growth of the travel sector within Asia. We are working hard to increase the number and quality of the buyers.
"If exhibitors believe it will benefit their business by having a strong annual meeting place for the industry, PTM is the only show that can provide that. We want to position it as the premier travel trade event for the region."
MeetingNet Asia, a MICE conference for corporate houses and incentive buyers precedes PTM 2000.