Press release

14^th International Exhibition UITT 2008

The 14^th Ukraine International Travel & Tourism Exhibition, UITT 2008, will take place at the International Exhibition Centre on 26-28 March 2008.  The continued increase in exhibitors at UITT is testament to the considerable interest that tourism companies are taking in the Ukrainian market.  This interest has been boosted by the President of Ukraine's declaration that 2008 is the year for tourism and resorts, which triggered a wide scale promotional campaign launched in December 2007 by the State Service for Tourism and Resorts.

More than 850 companies from 60 countries will be demonstrating their services at the 2008 exhibition, including national stands from Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand and Tunisia. 

UITT regularly displays a wide variety of services including worldwide tours, air travel, air and rail tickets, hotel accommodation and booking, recreational tourism, cruises, ecotours and excursions, as well as conference and seminar organisation, incentive travel, studying abroad and insurance.  It attracts both national operators and key international players. 

Major attractions at this year's UITT include Jordan, which has the largest stand at the exhibition of 184 m².  His Excellency, the Minister for Culture, Mr. Nayef Al Fayez, participated personally in preparing the Jordanian national group.  The stand will feature two Jordanian air carriers (Royal Jordanian and UM Air), ten leading tour operators and three 5* hotels on the Dead Sea coast.  Poland, spurred by the joint hosting (with Ukraine) of the Euro 2012 football championship, will be at UITT with a stand of 122.5 m².  Also, Italy will be taking part in the event for the first time. 

Ukraine's own tourism potential will be demonstrated for the first time on one large stand.  Hall 2 will feature products and services from operators dealing only in the internal market.  Ukraine's various regions will be divided between stands organised by the Ministry for Tourism and Resorts of AR of the Crimea, the National Tourist Organisation and the Kiev City Administration.

Alongside the exhibition, a number of other events will be taking place, including the 3^rd International MICE Conference entitled ‘Organising Conferences and Business Meetings' on 28 March, the 2^nd International Business Forum entitled ‘Small Hotels and Apartments in Ukraine' on 27-28 March, and a number of master classes on managing small hotels, training staff, modern trends for hotel design, etc.

Five other exhibitions will be taking place alongside UITT this year, including Hotel & Restaurant Expo Ukraine 2008 (the 9^th international exhibition for hotels, restaurants, resort equipment and technologies), CleanExpo Ukraine 2008 (the 5^th international trade show for professional cleaning devices) and KIBS 2008 (the 5^th international boat and yacht exhibition).  Brand4Rent 2008, featuring franchising and other business opportunities, and the 8^th edition of Décor&Gifts will be held for the first time alongside UITT.  The co-location of these exhibitions means that exhibitors will benefit from the opportunity of attracting a larger audience whose interests cover more than one exhibition.

Notes to editors:

UITT 2008

The first two days of UITT will be open for trade visitors only. 

UITT was first launched in 1994 and since then, the exhibition has grown considerably.  It has gained a reputation as the top international business travel event in Ukraine and has become a traditional meeting place for tour operators, airlines, travel agencies, national and regional tourist boards, insurance companies, hotels and resorts. 

In 2007, UITT covered 11,050 m² and featured a record number of exhibitors - over 850 companies from 58 countries.  Attendance at the exhibition reached 25,000.

UITT is a member of the International Tourism Trade Fair Association (ITTFA), the United Nations World Travel Organisation (UNWTO), the Central European Countries Tourist Association (CECTA), the Pacific Asian Tourist Association (PATA) and the International Congress and Conference Association (ICCA).  It is fully supported by the President of Ukraine, the Ministry for Culture and Tourism, the Parliament Committee for Family, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism, the Kiev City Administration, the Ministry for Tourism and Resorts, the Association of Sports Tourism of the AR of Crimea, the National Tourist Organisation of Ukraine, regional state administrations, etc.  The general information sponsor of the exhibition is the Mezhdunarodny Tourism Magazine.  Other information partners include:  Welcome to Ukraine, Ukrainsky Tourism, Mandry, Mir Turizma, Travel News, Strakhova Sprava, UTG (Ukrainskaya Turisticheskaya Gazeta), Zagranitsa and TTG.

The ITE Group

ITE Group plc is a leading organiser of trade exhibitions and conferences, with 150 events held annually in 14 countries.  The company specialises in organising events in emerging and developing markets, in particular Russia, CIS, Eastern Europe, Turkey, China and Africa.  ITE has a large network of local offices throughout these regions.

ITE's most well-known brands include MosBuild, MIOGE, MIMS, MITT, World Food Moscow, KIOGE, KazBuild, TransRussia and Moda UK.

For further information about ITE, please visit the website:  www.ite-exhibitions.com

For further information about this news release, please contact:

Nadine Sanderson
ITE Group plc
105 Salusbury Road
London
NW6 6RG

Tel: +44 (0)20 7596 5000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7596 5111
Email:      nadine.sanderson@ite-exhibitions.com
Website:  www.ite-exhibitions.com