The NATAS Travel Fair 2023 was a huge success, bringing together
travel specialists, national tourism organisations, hotels and resorts,
cruises, airlines, and travel-related companies to showcase popular and
unique holiday experiences around the region and the world.
The fair, which ran from 24 February to 26 February 2023 at Singapore
EXPO Hall 5, featured over 50 travel agents, cruise operators, hotels,
and national tourist organisations from Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan.
According
to Steven Ler, president of NATAS, the travel and tourism industry is
poised to re-emerge stronger and more resilient over the next few years.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, he said, “I hope that the NATAS
Travel 2023 will not only provide consumers with the best travel deals
and tour packages, but will also lead to an even closer collaboration
among the members of the travel industry.”
Compared to the previous year, NATAS Fair 2023 saw a 20% increase in
exhibitors and a larger, younger crowd of committed travellers.
There were already long lines when Travel Weekly Asia visited the fair on Friday morning prior to its opening hours. Photo Credit: Cheryl Teo
On Friday morning, when the fair opened, there were long lines
indicating the excitement and anticipation of visitors. As per Steven
Ler's projections, this year's fair is expected to draw close to 100,000
visitors, which is a significant increase from the 69,000 visitors last
year. This indicates the growing interest in travel and the desire of
people to explore new destinations.
"This time it’s a big difference as compared to previous NATAS fairs
as people really come in early and really committed to buying," Ler
noted. "Alongside that, what we also see is travellers buying bigger
sized travel packages."
According to Ler, Singaporean travellers have progressed
significantly in the last few years, with more awareness of cruising
promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board during lockdown. This has led to
a base of maturity and knowledge among consumers who are now looking
for longer-haul cruise destinations further away, such as river cruises
and wine and cruise packages. These destinations have seen high demand,
with bookings already being made for 2024 and 2025. Singaporeans are
also becoming more adventurous, with increased interest in cruises in
Europe, the Galapagos, and Antarctica.
The fair also saw travel companies tailoring their packages to new
traveller trends. Joshua Sia, assistant manager business development at
WTS Travel, said, "For NATAS Fair 2023, we created special packages to
suit current traveller demands. For example, with newly opened countries
like Taiwan, having opened later than any, we saw that there was a
demand among travellers to get back there. So we're putting more focus
on newly opened destinations in Asia."
Jovan Chan, director of Dreamcation Cruises and Tours, also noted a
change in the demographic of visitors to the fair, with more families
and youngsters bringing their parents to NATAS Fair this year.
Travellers were mostly looking for packages in destinations that are not
easy for free independent travel like Turkey or Monaco, and other
popular destinations like Asia.