Aviareps, a global airline and tourism representative, arrived in Kuwait yesterday (November 27), at the Kuwait Crowne Plaza Hotel where it kicked off the second leg of its ‘Aviareps Middle East Travel Caravan 2016’.

The Aviareps Middle East Travel Caravan is a calendar of travel industry networking events that brings together some of the world’s leading destination, aviation and tourism brands under the one roof with opportunities for the partners to meet directly with the region’s leading travel agents and travel industry decision makers. Following the Kuwait event, the Aviareps Travel Caravan will continue to Saudi Arabia, where it will hold similar events in Riyadh on November 29 at the Holiday Inn, and Jeddah on November 30 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The first leg of the Aviareps Middle East Travel Caravan kicked off in Dubai on October 16, before heading to Doha in Qatar and Muscat in Oman.

Attending the inaugural Kuwait event were over 80 leading Kuwaiti travel industry professionals. Destination brands participating in the event included: Philippines Department of Tourism (PDOT), Slovenia Tourism Board (STB), Korean National Tourism Organization, Visit California, California’s Orange County Visitors Association (OCVA), and Kyoto Convention and Visitors Bureau (KCVB). Other participating brands included Cebu Pacific Airlines, Qatar Airways, Union Hotels (Europe), Happy Tours (Slovenia), Seawings (UAE), AYABEX (Japan), FlexibleAutos International, Royal Caribbean International, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Costa Cruises, to name a few.

Glenn Johnston, general manager, Aviareps Middle East, said: “We are extremely excited to bring the Aviareps Travel Caravan to Kuwait. The demand from destinations and tourism entities around the world wanting to reach out to the Kuwaiti outbound travel market - one of the world’s top average daily spending markets - has been growing year on year. It’s great to see our caravan of participating partners grow even from just last month - such is the interest in the Kuwait outbound market.”

Johnston added: “As a result of the Aviareps Travel Caravan the Kuwaiti travel agents have formed new international business contacts and generated new business opportunities, the participating destinations and companies have also generated new business ties with Kuwait and have learned more about the specific needs and demands of Kuwaiti travellers, and travellers from Kuwait will now have more holiday package choices and destinations made available to them. It has been an overwhelming success and win-win situation for all involved.”

The Aviareps Middle East Travel Caravan is a unique travel and tourism industry event, in that it is open to the participation of all national, regional and city tourism promotion boards, airlines, hotels, travel service companies and tour operators seeking to meet with the leading outbound tourism decision makers of the Middle East. Co-participants are provided with a platform to showcase their offerings through a series of one-to-one meetings, with the day culminating in an evening dinner event.

In addition to the two Aviareps Travel Caravans conducted in the Middle East each year, Aviareps conducts similar activities in various markets around the world including the UK, Germany, and South Africa among many others. - TradeArabia News Service