The party at The Selman Hotel in Marrakech
Last week (Nov 12 - 16, 2012), PURE had its fourth annual travel trade show in Marrakech, our third time attending.
PURE is indisputedly the best travel show for trip planners who craft interesting travel experiences for their trusted travellers. The show is invite only, the show organisers have great discipline in only selecting those who offer unique travel experiences, whether it is the travel designer (like us) or the supplier offering something unique. It is truly a meeting of the minds on both the buy and sell side of the transaction.
We attend shows like this for a few reasons:
1) Research with travellers in mind.
This year, we were planning trips to China, Turkey, a non-golf trip to Scotland, Argentina, Cabo San Lucas, Costa Rica and New Zealand.
1b) Research specific regions
We concentrated on Latin America, in particular, we were interested in learning more about Brazil, beyond the big cities of Sao Paulo and Rio, which we visited in 2001. As hosts of both the World Cup (2014) and the Olympics (2016), we're sure there will be increased interest in Brazil from our travellers in the years to come.
2) Put faces to the names or email addresses.
We work with many people around the world, where it is impossible to meet them all in person, yet a show like this brings everyone together, it is definitely one of the more enjoyable features of the week.
3) Networking
It is around the appointments that some of the best business is done. Meeting people over a drink, catching up, while enjoying spectacular parties. This year, the hosts were the new Selman hotel, The Delano and the Sofitel. The networking keeps us in touch with industry trends, developments, etc...
In the end we are curators of travel, so it is critical to constantly renew our relationships with the world's best artists while looking for the the emerging ones at the same time and PURE helps us do that.