Exhibition Showcase travelled to the city of Goa to cover the first edition of Aahar Ways Expo, a Catering, Food and Hospitality fair held at Dr. SPM stadium from 17th-19th August, 2018. Goa is blessed with beautiful beaches and hills, a rich heritage, architecture and culture. Tourism is the mainstay of the Goan economy, contributing around 12.5 % of the economy. Goa has also been positioned sixth in the list of ‘Top 10 nightlife cities in the world’ by National Geographic. There is a 12-15% increase in tourism in Goa every year. During January to December 2017, the number of passengers who arrived in the state on the basis of e-tourist visas was recorded to be 133,798. Moreover, the state recorded a total of 851,048 foreign tourists from over 141 countries across the globe.Exhibition Showcase travelled to the city of Goa to cover the first edition of Aahar Ways Expo, a Catering, Food and Hospitality fair held at Dr. SPM stadium from 17th-19th August, 2018. Goa is blessed with beautiful beaches and hills, a rich heritage, architecture and culture. Tourism is the mainstay of the Goan economy, contributing around 12.5 % of the economy. Goa has also been positioned sixth in the list of ‘Top 10 nightlife cities in the world’ by National Geographic. There is a 12-15% increase in tourism in Goa every year. During January to December 2017, the number of passengers who arrived in the state on the basis of e-tourist visas was recorded to be 133,798. Moreover, the state recorded a total of 851,048 foreign tourists from over 141 countries across the globe.
Goa is one of the fastest growing states in the country. The Gross State Domestic Product of Goa at current prices increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.78 per cent from 2011-12 to 2016-17. Goa’s net state domestic product (NSDP) was Rs 587.71 billion (US$ 8.76 billion) in 2016-17. “Goa’s economic growth is driven by the strong performance of industrial sectors such as mining, tourism and pharmaceuticals.”
“The government is aware of the immense opportunities that are available in the Goa market and the state is in the process of developing the logistics sector in Goa by forming a special logistics group and constructing several bridges to address the existing deficiencies with regard to logistics and warehousing.” In 1983, after The Taj Group of Hotels had already took the initiative in building Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa, the photographs of Prime Ministers and Presidents of several Commonwealth States enjoying a beach holiday in Goa appeared all over the world, making Goa a popular destination for foreign visitors.
At first, there were no direct charter flights to Goa. Once the charter flights were allowed, there was no stopping the development of other hotel chains like Welcome Group, Oberoi, and Ramada Inn. Today, Goa is a tourist destination with over 7000 hotels.
Accommodation facilities and Restaurants are the essential components of tourism products. International Conference on Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering (ICIEEE) and International Conference & Expo on Lithium Batteries, Used Battery & E-Waste Management (ICELBUEM) are some of the MICE events that have already been organised in Goa this year. The Def Expo 2016 was another major landmark event hosted in Goa. Goa also hosts quite a few Conferences and Exhibitions from the IT and Technology sector, including Indian Society for Pediatric Dermatology Conference, Anti-Virus Asia Researchers, Gartner Symposium ITxpo India. Spice India (SBGI) and Nullcon Conference will also be held in beginning of the next year. Some of the famous venues for exhibitions and conferences in Goa are:The International centre Goa Grand HyattHotel Manvins Panjim GoaPark Hyatt Goa ResortVivanta by Taj Holiday Inn Resorts GoaHotel Palacio De Goa Gallery Gitanjali Panaji InnDr. SPM Indoor Stadium Hotel Fidalgo
Organisers could also form tie ups with hotels near exhibition venues for the comfort of their exhibitors. Evidently, with its carefree vibe and stress bursting environment the market in Goa has great potential, and needs to be explored more dedicatedly as a MICE destination. The exhibitors and visitors will be attracted by the cities charm
and the organizers could pitch support from the government since MICE industry greatly benefits Tourism. Goa Market is just waiting for the right people from the MICE industry to form their base in the market and benefit through an early realization of potential.
1st edition of Aahar Ways Expo: A catering, food and hospitality fair concludes :
Aahar Ways Expo is a B2B platform for companies of catering, food and hospitality industry to meet their buyers. There were around 6o exhibitors in total, attracted to the exhibition by the vast hospitality industry of Goa. The organiser of the exhibition was Sachin Bhutani, Founder, Editor and CEO at AAHAR WAYS, which is a leading Food and Hospitality Industry Monthly Journal celebrating 11 years of service in its realm. Sachin said “My exhibitors matter the most to me and Aahar Ways Expo provides them a platform to explore the vast Goa market. Key people from the Goa hospitality industry from hotels like The Leela and Caravela Beach Resort are going to be present at the exhibition.”
The three day exhibition was packed with an enlightening array of activities; arranged to ensure knowledge sharing and networking.
Seminar on Processing of Hotel waste. The discussion revolved around the ‘ban of plastic’ agenda which is in hype in the hotel industry of India at the moment.
Panel discussion on the Housekeeping Industry organised by PHA along with Towel Origami and Terrarium Making Competition.
Launch of Young Chefs Association in Goa.
Other highlights included:
Product launches from companies like Thermomix.
Technology launches by Gleio, Trend Vision LLP and bondPOS.
Companies even showcased eco-friendly products.
Live Demo of products by Kaapi machines, Lavazza and Probite.
One of the exhibitors Sandeep Reddy, Sales Manager South of Kaapi Machines said “Goa has a lot of Cafes and Shacks around every corner, we wanted to reach these potential buyers with our product. My manager is right now at a meeting with a potential buyer he met yesterday.” Another exhibitor Pragnyashree Patra, Hospitality Manager of Weber-Stephen Barbecue Products India Pvt. Ltd. also came with the motive to explore the Goa market. They were quite happy to receive inquiries from potential buyers of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi as well. A few of the exhibitors however, were dissatisfied with the footfall received by them.
Exhibitor Sankeet Jain from STEC Hotelwares LLP commented, “The visitor inquiries that we received were plenty, yet constituted of a less number of inquiries from Goa and more from other cities. Though I think the reason behind this is that the Goa market is not yet ready for our products. Goa hotel industry is a promising one and, we as exhibitors cannot expect a ready market everywhere and I understand that sometimes we’ll have to put in efforts to get the market ready. If it takes the Goa market 3 years to be ready, then we are going to show our presence in Goa for the next 3 years through exhibitions and other means.”
