Gamechanger for industry events as National Media acquires NoVacancy and TRAVELtech
Exciting times ahead for two of Australia’s most respected travel industry events, No Vacancy and TRAVELtech, which have been acquired by National Media from founder Martin Kelly, who also publishes TravelTrends.biz.
National Media’s managing director Mark Harvey said both events offer an exceptional platform for expansion with strong industry recognition and credibility.
The new era kicks off with the staging of No Vacancy LIVE over two days at Sydney’s new International Convention Centre on 1-2 November, while TRAVELtech is scheduled to return early in the second quarter of 2018.
“We’ll be taking No Vacancy to another level, combining high-quality content with a large trade show featuring up to 150 exhibitors across all verticals, transforming it into the business hub of Australia’s accommodation industry,” said Mr Harvey.
He claimed the accommodation industry is worth more than $18 billion to the Australian economy. “Yet surprisingly, given the size of the industry, there is no dedicated exhibition designed to meet all its needs.”
“No Vacancy LIVE will fill this void and offer hoteliers and other accommodation industry professionals a platform to discover products and ideas to optimize their properties, create amazing guest experiences and ultimately boost their profits.”
Mr Kelly said he’s happy No Vacancy and TRAVELtech are in good hands and will remain connected with them in a programming and moderation role.
“I’ve really enjoyed creating and running No Vacancy and TRAVELtech but it was time to step aside and let someone else with the capacity to accelerate their evolution take them on.”
Mr Kelly said he will now focus on further developing TravelTrends.biz, while also consulting to travel companies on communications, innovation, industry trends and strategy.
“The great thing about selling the conferences is that I’ll be able to properly investigate the feasibility of a couple of ideas I’ve been trying to get to but haven’t had the time – now there are no excuses,” he noted.
Mr Kelly started TRAVELtech in 1999 during the early days of e-commerce. No Vacancy followed in 2007 as accommodation sites started taking over the travel web.
Historically, No Vacancy has been very much an accommodation marketing conference, but the new look exhibition will embrace all aspects of the accommodation business.
Content is still central to the event and will be expanded upon with more topics, more sessions and more speakers.
The exhibition will showcase the best quality suppliers across design and decor, property management, operations and finance, housekeeping, spa and leisure, in-room and guest-facing technology, and marketing, distribution and reservation solutions.
TRAVELtech will also evolve into a much larger event and become the main exhibition and conference for travel technology buyers, travel agencies, tour operators and transport professionals to source, learn and network.
It will bring together a large selection of specialist suppliers showcasing the latest innovations across distribution, reservation, business operation and sales and marketing.
“We are really excited at where we can take these events and look forward to working closely with the communities they serve,” said Mr Harvey.
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