servicing land, air and sea: itca dubai
The region's only travel catering event looks beyond flights to include cruises, and beyond food to cover a variety of services
In recent years, international airlines and cruise liners have begun outsourcing several other services to professional organisations. These include product development, waste management, equipment planning, resource and budget management, onboard retailing, water-tight compliance and security systems. It makes good commercial sense for everyone involved; more business opportunities for the suppliers and better value-added product and service for the buyers and consumers. At ITCA Dubai, the aim is to bring these two sets of organisations together – those that seek professional outsourced services and those that can readily provide them. ITCA Dubai 2007 is the region’s only specialised travel catering event. It places global players in touch with the key markets of the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.
Looking at the concept of in-flight catering it lends itself to staggering dimensions, and it is the stuff of many urban myths and marvels. Emirates Airlines recently created global aviation history by ordering 143 aircraft worth Dhs 127 billion. A record-breaking order with huge impact for in-flight catering as a whole.
In random examples, KLM’s 747 flight from Amsterdam to Australia is said to carry an average of just a little over 1,000 kilograms of food in comparison to some 1,324 litres of drink including mineral water, spirits and other beverages. British Airways passengers consume 40.5 tonnes of chicken, 6 tonnes of caviar, 22 tonnes of smoked salmon and 557,507 boxes of chocolate every year. Virgin Atlantic admits that catering is its third biggest cost after fuel and engineering-maintenance.
An in-flight meal and accompaniments served in business class costs an airline about US$50 in raw materials. To a passenger, an in-flight meal may be about fresh and hot food, but to an airline it is much more than that. The quality of the food has to be high, the menus have to be as contemporary as they are nutritious, the packaging has to be modern, and the presentation has to be simultaneously attractive, logical, and practical to use.
In in-flight catering, there is unparalleled emphasis on fresh food that is both easy to prepare and delicious to taste, but the end results have a well deserved and pleasing aftertaste. Today, in-flight catering is pegged as a staggering US$ 18 billion worldwide industry that employs up to 200,000 people.
These trends of outsourcing in-flight and cruise catering, and of numerous other services is aptly represented by ITCA Dubai, where visitors will be able to source suppliers from 23 countries including new exhibitor participation from Bahrain, Belgium, Oman, Syria and Taiwan.
In 2005, with the official formation of ITCA, this was opened up to include the rail and shipping industries as well, and membership was expanded to include three categories - caterers, suppliers of products and equipment, operators of air, sea and rail vehicles.
