Critical success factors for international travel fairs, using the Taipei International Travel Fair as an example

The travel industry has experienced operating difficulties because of the intense competition within the industry, difficulties in developing new products as well as the overly transparent and continuously increasing operating cost that reduces the profit margin. As a result, it is urgent that the business operating bottleneck be overcome and some strategies be implemented. These include dumping the conventional operating model, reducing basic operating costs, increasing the profit margin, and seeking alliances with companies from the same sector, relevant sectors, or even different sectors. In fact, exhibition and travel markets have originally been separate but with the booming of travel activities, more convenient transportation, greater accommodation and food options and the flourishing of local cultural attractions, the distinction between exhibition and travel has become less apparent. For the travel industry to compete for the market, providing simple travel-related services is no longer enough. Nowadays, travel agencies have to provide custom-tailored travel packages for companies or even pluralistic travel service consultations to attract clients. The study randomly sampled 500 subjects from the Taipei Travel Exhibition and asked them to complete a questionnaire. Of these, 342 valid responses were returned (68% response rate). The study found that the most emphasized aspects are the exhibition environment, followed by professional capacity, market demand, and the exhibition industry. The results of the survey clearly show that the environment is the most important aspect for holding an International Travel Fair. Of the 13 evaluation indicators, the top five most valued, in descending order, are software and hardware facilities, public relations and marketing, government’s planning policy, visibility, and knowledge and skills.