Travel industry greeted by a packed house at Ottawa Travel & Vacation Show

Thousands of visitors walked the aisles of Ottawa’s Shaw Center this weekend, learning more about dozens of global destinations at the Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa.

The show’s 24th annual edition included more than 60 countries and states, as well as some 30 Canadian exhibitors, from Ontario, Yukon, to Newfoundland and Labrador. Some exhibitors, such as Cuba, Turkey, Tunisia or Japan were already present at past editions, while Brazil, meanwhile, celebrated its first participation with consumers in the greater Ottawa area this year.

From Saturday morning, the floor was completely full.

"The visitors could not even access the kiosks, so there were many people," said one exhibitor.

It was the same story at Mexico's booth.

"We had 1,000 brochures in Puerto Vallarta and they flew very fast," says Sophie Raymond, regional sales manager for Velas Resorts in Canada, who spoke to visitors about her upscale, all-inclusive resorts.

At the end of Saturday, Halina Player, who promotes the show with her husband Robert Player, was very happy with the attendance. Last year, 17,000 people came to shop for their next vacation.

Zsuzsanna Sarmon, the new director of business development for North America of the Hungarian Tourism Board

New representative for Hungary

The festivities began as early as Friday night, when the Hungarian Tourist Board invited about 15 travel agents to a reception at the Hungarian Embassy. It was an opportunity for Zsuzsanna Sarmon, the new director of business development for North America of the Hungarian Tourism Board, to offer a presentation - her first, in fact, since her appointment, speaking on the many attractions of this small European country, not least of which is its magnificent capital of Budapest.

Sarmon will be based in New York and she can be reached at zsuzsanna.sarmon@mtu.gov.hu.

Last year, more than 42,000 Canadians visited Hungary, including those flying with Air Canada's direct seasonal flight from Toronto to Budapest for a total of 113,000 overnight stays.