Aviarep's Nordic Virtual Travel Fair on November 11-12 brought together approximately 200 visitors who interacted with 27 exhibitors from all over the world. Almost 2,000 virtual interactions were carried out between visitors and exhibitors.

Tapani Kauhanen, Aviareps Nordic General Manager, says: “This was a very exciting and challenging project for our team. It was the first time we worked on a virtual trade fair project with a fairly tight schedule. Our original plan was to organize our annual Nordic roadshow in real life (IRL), but due to the current situation with Corona, we transferred the project to a virtual event within a month. The event was not much different from a live event as the technology and avatars worked well. The main goal of the travel fair was achieved, which was to create new contacts and relationships as well as maintain the old ones. In addition, it was interesting to observe that some of the exhibitors are very active in showcasing their destination and product on the market, which increases the chance of taking market share and increasing their sales in a longer perspective. It seems that marketing activities even in these days of covid-19 will be rewarded later.

Dalma Horvath-Ibolya from the Hungarian Tourist Board HTA says: I'm so glad that Aviareps Nordics didn't cancel their annual roadshow but came up with the fantastic idea of having a virtual trade show! The exhibitors who represented Hungary as a tourist destination was boomingwith visitors and we had a great virtual meeting! We look forward to seeing everyone next year again so we can enjoy a nice glass of Hungarian wine in person!

LIVE RIGA – The Official Tourism Development Bureau of the capital of Latvia, was one of the exhibitors. Sergejs Moldovans from Live Riga summarizes: The Nordic region has historically been an important market for the city of Riga. While the pandemic is still with us, we are seeing that Nordic tour operators and travel agencies that usually do not include Riga in their product portfolio are now offering and selling Riga to their customers, which makes us very happy.

Katharina Wiig from the travel agency Unikereiser in Norway summarizes the event from her perspective: ”The virtual fair was fantastic, with many exciting exhibitors and new inspiration.”.

Aviareps Nordic plans to organize additional roadshows and trade fairs both IRL and virtually in 2021.