Destination Britain & Ireland (DEBI 2012), the top B2B travel trade event of VisitBritain and Tourism Ireland, saw 22 new companies from the UK and Ireland attending to showcase their latest travel and tourism offerings to APMEA visitors.

Now in its ninth year, DEBI 2012 was held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand from May 14 to 16.  It is one of the biggest trade events of its kind in the APMEA region, with over 200 companies and travel industry specialists attending the three day event.

2012 was set to be another good year, in terms of attendance with 62 companies comprising UK and Irish attractions, hotels, tour operators, regional, and national tourist boards and transport providers.

The event offered British and Irish tourism businesses a crucial route to market and a unique opportunity to further boost the 4.3 million visits and GBP4.9 billion ($7.7 billion) spent in Britain by visitors from this part of the world.

Keith Beecham, VisitBritain’s Overseas Network Director said: “2011 was a strong year for visits and spend from the APMEA region, especially from countries like Australia, China, and Singapore. Australia, India, UAE and China reached or maintained their highest rank ever for visit numbers in that year.”

“Hosting DEBI in Thailand in 2012 reinforces our investment and commitment to the region, highlighted by the fact that we are bringing our largest ever delegation of British tourism businesses to meet with the buyers from this region in this special year for Britain.

“APMEA accounts for 14 per cent inbound tourism to Britain in terms of visits and 27.7 per cent of total spend. There is clearly a scope for us to do more in order to attract a greater share of the market. We have increased our marketing investment and millions of consumers in this region will have seen our GREAT images through our GBP25 million image campaign that we hope will inspire them to choose Britain for their next holiday.”

Jim Paul, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Australia and Developing Markets said: “We are delighted to be partnering with VisitBritain for the fourth time to host DEBI. The event helps us to develop and reinforce Tourism Ireland’s relationship with VisitBritain in the APMEA region, highlighting the island of Ireland’s close proximity to Britain.” - TradeArabia News Service