TITF-2025: Innovative Approaches in the Tourism Industry and Analysis Based on the Experience of the Stand Participant

In the era of rapid globalization, changing competitiveness and the influence of smart specialization and tourism market digitalization of the tourism sector, international tourism fairs have transformed from traditional places of destination marketing and branding into major marketing communication hubs, where a wide range of presentation tools are applied by stakeholders to communicate with the target segments. Using the author as a participant observer of Tashkent International Tourism Fair TITF 2025, the study discusses on stand management, visitor interaction models, digital promotion instruments and integrated events such as gastronomy festivals and international tourism forums. By putting emphasis on empirical knowledge based on first-hand experience of the stand participants, existing research mostly addresses tourism fairs through theoretical, strategic and regional branding lenses, especially in the context of TITF. The purpose of the article is to analyse the innovative ways of presentation and exhibition applied at TITF2025 and to estimate their marketing, educational and practical values. Stand design, use of interactive technologies (e.g., VR tours and QR code-based information delivery), multimedia presentations, and quality of communication with visitors are identified as key determinants of exhibition effectiveness, as the results demonstrate. Moreover, the fusion of a tourism and gastronomy and OIC Tourism Forum brought tremendous added value to attracting visitors, promotion of regions, and international cooperation opportunities. This study is novel in that it is based on observations from direct participation, informed by pedagogical considerations, and connects tourism marketing practice and tourism education. The results point to the strategic importance of international tourism fairs, especially in terms of destination branding, digital transformation and experiential learning, with implications for the improvement of exhibition strategies, tourism marketing practices and educational curricula.