Contemporary Trade Shows as a Place of Knowledge Sharing about Tourism Products

The main thrust of this paper is to indicate the reasons why exhibitors participate in contemporary trade shows and to what extend trade shows are the place of knowledge sharing about tourism products and tourism industry for them. In order to fulfill this purpose, a distinction was made between the trade show information and trade show intelligence. The information function of fairs was analyzed in relation to the travel industry and special emphasis was put on characteristic features of the tourism product as the object of booth presentation. The authors presented the results of a study that was conducted among exhibitors participating in the Trade Fair of Regions and Tourist Products TOUR SALON - the biggest exhibition event of the tourism industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The findings presented in this paper are based on answers given by the representatives of territorial selfgovernment units (cities, municipalities and provinces) and other entities that exhibited tourism products during the trade fairs such as regional or national tourism promotion centers. The findings of the research confirmed that for exhibitors’ participation in trade shows is an important way of gaining market information, particularly about the latest trends in the tourism industry and about the offer and behavior of their competitors. According to the exhibitors, trade shows are also a good place for sharing knowledge about tourism products and present the exhibitor’s latest offer. Moreover, trade shows give a great opportunity to recognize customers’ demands. The respondents confirmed that participation in fairs plays an important role in an overall marketing activity of their organizations. The research findings served as a basis for conclusions that were presented in the final part of the paper. The prospects of trade shows development and its competitiveness for tourism industry in the era of increasing significance of Internet as a source of information about travelling and attractive destinations for tourists were considered as a final result of the research.