In its second year the festival saw the hosting of 10 world-class events, starting with the Singapore Experience Awards, and culminating with the Cornell Hotel Society Asia Pacific Regional Conference. They collectively attracted more than 9,500 attendees, a 15% growth over 2010.

“It has been a fruitful week of meaningful discussions and meetings. Many who attended TravelRave this year have made valuable contacts and gained useful insights from the various sessions,” said Aw Kah Peng, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board. (pictured right).

One of TravelRave’s highlights was the by-invitation-only Asia Travel Leaders Summit, which saw industry leaders discussing issues pertinent to the Asian travel and tourism industry. Among those participating were Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWO), David Scowsill, president and chief executive officer of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Zhuang Chenchao, co-founder and chief executive officer of Qunar, and Rattan Keswani, president of Trident Hotels. 

To develop the next generation of travel industry leaders and encourage the young to seek a profession in the industry TravelRave launched a regional youth competition – the inaugural TravelRave Talent Challenge.

The winner is a student from Singapore Management University, Mabel Fu, who said. she would definitely consider joining the industry upon my graduation.”

Other highlights of the week included the inaugural release of new tourism and travel findings. Among them was the research by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on the importance of business travel and its impact in Asia.

TravelRave 2011 also saw the strengthening of bilateral ties and continued partnership between countries in Asia, with Singapore and ITB Asia jointly showing their support for Japan’s recovery efforts. This led to the participation of leading Japanese tourism companies at ITB Asia, highlighting Japan’s resilience and recovery.