BTL Travel Market in a jiffy
When it comes to fairs and exhibitions specifically projected to the hospitality industry, this first trimester of 2019 has served us extremely well! From Madrid to Berlin and now Lisbon, hoteliers, travelers, and suppliers in the industry have been flying around Europe basically every month to attend the best events the industry has to offer.
When preparing to attend BTL Travel Market next week, we want you to know what to expect in order to make the most out of it, so we’ve put together this quick guide to help you through the most influential travel event held in Portugal.
For HiJiffy, because Portugal is our home country, BTL Travel Market is one of the most important events, and it will be the last one we’ll be attending this trimester. So, if you’re as excited to attend this event as we are, you won’t want to miss a single bit of it either.
Welcome to BTL 2019
BTL — Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa — is the biggest and most important annual travel event held in Portugal. This year, it will take place from 13 to 17 March, at FIL — Feira Internacional de Lisboa.
In its 31st edition, BTL’s organization is expecting over 1,200 exhibitors to be showcasing their services and products to more than 77,000 visitors. Among the exhibitors and visitors, there will be travel enthusiasts, service providers, influencers, as well as travel and other organizations within the hospitality industry from all over the world.
BTL Travel Market is also expected to host over 5,000 business meetings this year — so, yes, this is a great place for networking, meeting other professionals in the industry and creating new synergies that are great to leverage your business.
What to expect
Aside from the exhibitors, BTL Travel Market will also showcase themed workshops, travel destinations, cultural presentations, and gourmet food tastings. On March 16th, BTL will host a group of speakers that will share their adventures and experiences in Latin America and a photography contest related to these unforgettable moments will also be held.
This event offers the general public the opportunity to choose new destinations for their vacations at highly competitive prices, wrapped in an atmosphere of festivity, where music and gastronomy are a constant presence.
The five-day event brings professionals and the general public together to experience what best Portugal has to offer, so expect to encounter wonders such as wine tasting from the Setúbal Peninsula, embroidery samples from Viana do Castelo or food tasting like Ovar’s typical sponge cake.
Lisbon — BTL 2019 Domestic Guest Destination
Every year, BTL Travel Market offers the chosen guest destinations the opportunity to promote their tourism-related products and services. This year, Lisbon Region is the selected Domestic Guest Destination, and it will be represented in pavilion 1. This space is meant to showcase the region’s main characteristics and touristic potential, namely when it comes to history, gastronomy, art, heritage, wine tourism, and sports.
Another highlight that will also be shared this year is Lisbon’s growing ability to capture major events, affirming the Portuguese capital and the region as one of the fastest growing places in the MICE segment.
By being this year’s chosen domestic guest destination, Lisbon is joining Portugal’s Center Region, Madeira, and Algarve, which held this title in previous years.
Macao — BTL 2019 International Guest Destination
After nine years, Macao is once again International Guest Destination at BTL Travel Market. But this time it’s even more special since the country is celebrating 20 years of Macao’s Special Administrative Region.
Intrinsically linked, Macao and Portugal share many historical, cultural and economic ties, reasons that justify a visit to this region. Much more than just a gambling destination, Macao offers a cultural and landscape diversity to its guests, having focused on the modernization of its hotels, where now more than 23,000 rooms are categorized as five stars, according to Macao’s Tourism Coordination.
Furthermore, these resorts prove that the country is gaining importance not only in the business events sector but also in the world of leisure and entertainment. In fact, Macao is nowadays one of the regions with the highest tourism and economic growth in the world and it intends to show it to the thousands of BTL’s visitors. So make sure not to miss it and experience all the country has to offer during the fair!
BTL Lab
For the second year in a row, BTL Travel Market will present BTL Lab. This space, sponsored by a leading technology and innovation company, is meant to serve as a platform for debate and discussion of how the industry benefits from new technologies.
Within BTL Lab, visitors will be able to visit BTL Tech, meant for companies that promote innovative services, platforms or software within the Tourism sector; BTL Stages, designed to promote presentations, talks and, overall, share ideas on the sector; and BTL Startup, for companies under 3 years that develop projects in the tourism sector.
HiJiffy is very excited to be exhibiting at BTL Travel Market 2019! So if you’re eager to know more about how to centralize and optimize your hotel’s customer care with the help of top-notch technology, visit us at Pavilion 03 > Stand S6, from 13–17 March.
Hope to meet you there!
🤖Learn more about HiJiffy’s unified inbox for hotels on our website https://hijiffy.com/
NB: This is a viewpoint by Ana Morais, Head of Marketing @ HiJiffy. HiJiffy is an all-in-one communication platform that helps hotels increase their direct bookings and customer satisfaction.
