The Thomas Cook management was not available for comment, but sources say that the company has not offered a convincing reason for pulling out. Thomas Cook, however, will have stalls at the fair to promote its services.

TAAI, being a non-profit organisation will not lose much as the financial contribution was not significant, industry sources said. The profits from such events are spent on other promotional activities for the travel industry. The fund is also used for the TAAI's official functions.

As per the agreement the sponsors were to contribute approximately Rs 3 lakh each to the promotional plan of TAAI. The companies get free stalls for their contribution. Now that Thomas Cook has backed out from sponsoring, it will have to pay for the two stalls it planned to set up at the fair.

The travel exhibition will have around 100 participants exhibiting their products and services. The participants include various travel agencies, export promotion councils, tour operators and hotels. Besides these, several state tourism departments will participate in the fair.

The event will also include a number of seminars on issues related to the travel industry such as, promotion of inbound and outbound tourism, and the impact of Euro on the travel industry. There will also be audio-visual presentations by the some participants.

This is the second consecutive year that TAAI is organising the event in Mumbai. Set up in 1951 TAAI now has over 1,000 members. The primary goal of the organisation is to protect the interest of those engaged in the industry, to promote and safeguard the travelling public from exploitation by unscrupulous and unreliable operators, an official statement said.