30-member team leaves for Berlin travel show

A 30-member delegation led by the Myanmar Marketing Committee of the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board left for Germany earlier this month to attend the world's biggest travel industry show. The International Travel Bourse in Berlin from March 11 to 15 features more than 100,000 exhibitors. Last year's event attracted more than 200,000 trade visitors and members of the public from throughout the world and 6700 travel writers and journalists from more than 80 countries. The event is held at the Messe Berlin Exhibition Centre, which has 150,000 square feet of display space. As well as members of the committee, the delegation includes the representatives of 14 travel agencies, five hotels, the national flag carrier Myanmar Airways International, three domestic airlines and Design Printing Services, which makes maps, including thode for use by travellers. The committee is being represented at the show by the committee's public relations manager, Daw Khine Wai Thwe, who said Myanmar has a 100 square metre booth which cost €20,000 in rental fees. "The booth is open on all sides which allows us to display our products effectively," she said ahead of the delegation's departure for Germany. Daw Khine Wai Thwe said she would distribute promotional materials for the annual ASEAN Tourism Forum being held in Yangon for the first time next January. The managing director of Taw Win Travel Co., Ltd. and the treasurer of the committee and the Union of Myanmar Travel Association, Daw Rita Myint, said promoting the ATF would be one of her priorities at the show. "It is the right place to make the world know about the ATF in Yangon and attract as many buyers and sellers as we can," she said. Daw Rita Myint said she would also promote Myanmar's beach destinations. "We need to promote our unspoiled beaches and the fact that they were not hit by the tsunami," she said. . Daw Rita Myint, who will be attend ing the ITB for the 10th time, said she concentrates on promoting Myanmar as a destination rather than her company's products. "The first step is to promote the country," she said. "In the past, people didn't even know where Myanmar was. Only in recent years have they started to learn about the country's attractions and show an interest in visiting." The managing director of Design Printing Services, U Aye Min 0, said he planned to take 3000 tourist maps of Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan, and 400 CDs produced by t e company to distribute at the show. "The CDs provide information about destinations and suggested itineraries as we as video displays to provide prospective visitors with a glimpse of what Myanmar offers. They are designed toenable travellers to easily browse travel packages," said U Aye Min Oo who will be attending the show for the fourth time. U Aye Min 00 said the CD also has software to direct users to a website. www.atf2006.com. Which has been established to promote the ATF In Yangon