Major travel trade events are just around the corner in 2026, offering a perfect kick-start for the travel business year. For instance, some big events like OTM (Outbound Travel Mart) and SATTE (South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange) happening in India go beyond networking; they help travel businesses generate leads, forge lasting partnerships, and gain valuable market insights.
However, attending without preparation can be overwhelming. Use these pre-event strategies to make your time, effort, and investment truly worthwhile.
- Define your goals
- Do Your Homework: Research Attendees & Exhibitors in Advance
- Create a shortlist of exhibitors and schedule meetings in advance
- Prepare marketing collaterals
- Pre-Schedule your “Post-Event Follow-up Plan”
- Bonus Tips
Define Your Goals
The very first step that you should take right now is to set a clear purpose for attending the event.
Ask yourself or ask your team, what do you want to achieve from this event?
- Looking to generate new business and quality leads?
- Want to showcase new products or destinations?
- Planning to meet and strengthen ties with existing partners and suppliers?
- Aiming for media coverage and brand visibility?
- Exploring smart travel tech to improve and scale your business?
Your goal can be any of these or something else.
The reason why your first step should be defining clear goals is because it will give you the right direction for further planning. This will further build every action, communication meetings you schedule, visiting cards, or brochures you make.
Having a clear goal before attending the event helps you prioritise your time, energy, and resources because once you’re there, dozens of people, conversations, and opportunities await your attention.
Do Your Homework: Research Attendees & Exhibitors in Advance
If you’re reading this for OTM 2026, SATTE 2026 or any other major travel trade event, you already know what to expect: hundreds of buyers and sellers, tech partners, media representatives, and countless opportunities, everything “Under One Roof”. That’s exactly why doing your homework is critical.
An unplanned visit doesn’t just waste time; it costs you in hotel stays, travel expenses, and daily spend, without delivering real returns. You can’t afford to just “be present” when there are multiple people to meet and a wide diversity of businesses competing for your attention. Clear planning is the only way to turn the event into a real business opportunity.
Realted Blog: Where to Stay Near OTM 2026 Venue
Create a Shortlist of Exhibitors & Schedule Meetings in Advance
As the travel trade event approaches, every business actively promotes itself online, making it easier to find the right people and lock in meetings early. Pre-scheduled appointments ensure your time doesn’t get scrambled on the event floor, while face-to-face interactions help you build stronger, more meaningful connections and get real value from the event.
For events like OTM 2026, it’s highly recommended to use the Snapcard portal to pre-book meetings. The platform lets you apply detailed filters such as company type, destinations served, and geographic focus—so you can line up the right conversations in advance. If there’s a mutual match, you can even connect through a virtual meet-and-greet before the event, making your on-ground meetings far more productive.
Prepare Marketing Collaterals
This can be your first impression on a potential long-term successful partnership. Be ready with your physical and digital brochures, itineraries, product rate sheets, or any other professional promotional material you prefer. Update what you have currently, make it more visually appealing, include your brand details and make it easy to understand. Also, make sure you share your digital touchpoints: your website, email, communication channels, and social media profiles. So the conversation doesn’t end at the event and can continue long after.
Pro tip: Include QR codes and interactive elements on your brochures or visiting cards. They grab attention instantly and make it easier for potential contacts to connect with you because you’re not just attending the event, you’re trying to be noticed.
Pre-Schedule your “Post-Event Follow-up Plan”
Your preparation doesn’t end when the event is over or when you have collected brochures, visiting cards, and had multiple sales conversations. To turn those interactions into real results, you need a solid follow-up plan. Ideally, reconnect within 48-72 hours with personalised messages that reference your conversations and include some relevant material discussed during the event.
Pro tip: Time is everything. A quick, timely follow-up, whether a short message or a simple greeting, can turn event conversations into long-term relationships, partnerships, and real business growth opportunities.
Final Suggestion
And here is something that most experts personally do:
Carry a short diary or sticky notes
We all know that after coming back from my event, it becomes hectic to remember which visiting card is hard, which conversation or what should be prior. It will be beneficial if, during the event, you keep making short notes with every visiting card, brochure, or communication that is important to you. A short note on important visiting cards will help you prioritise and reach out more efficiently after coming back.
Pro tip: Click selfies and create a quick group with your team so they can follow up promptly on important conversations. This helps maintain visibility and enables faster action on hot leads or high-potential partnerships.
