Tag Archives: ITB China

ITB China organisers have postponed ITB China 2020, originally scheduled to be held on May 13–15 at Shanghai. The deferred show dates will be further announced by the show organisers. The decision is based on the current risk evaluation of the COVID-19 epidemic by local and global authorities. According to the regular report and COVID-19 prevention notification released by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China recently, the COVID-19 situation in China continues to be challenging and developments in the following months are very hard to foresee at this stage. To ensure the safety of ITB China’s exhibitors and visitors, the organisers decided to postpone ITB China 2020, and in a responsible way allow all participants to make necessary arrangements in a timely manner. The ITB China organisers will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates based on official assessments of the overall risk situation.

ITB China, the largest B2B exclusive travel trade show in China, has become the strategic partner of the 2019 World Culture and Tourism Forum to be held on October 22-25 in Xi’an, China. Under the topic “Integrating Culture and Tourism to Build an Intelligent Future”, more than 1,000 industry experts will explore new marketing ideas for inbound tourism, destinations and attractions, while promoting the East-meets-West culture and thinking in the mission of developing global tourism for a new era. The conference will be hosted by Xi’an Municipal People’s Government and Ctrip Group. ITB China is organising a senior delegation of international and Chinese travel industry representatives to visit the forum and enjoy four days of exploring new marketing ideas for inbound tourism in China. Hand-picked senior buyers from the established ITB Berlin Buyers Circle will attend the forum this year, representing the international tourism industry. The majority of the buyers are coming from Europe and Asia, covering the MiCE, Corporate and Leisure travel sectors. David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China, said, “The partnership between Xi’an and ITB China will further promote the city’s amazing culture and tourist offerings beyond China and thus increase Xian’s ties with international travel professionals”. “Being one of the ‘Culture Cities of East Asia’ in 2019, Xi’an has accelerated its evolution into an international metropolis with its rich history and diverse culture backed by cultural confidence and consciousness,” noted Xu Mingfei, Deputy Mayor of Xi’an People’s Government, at the Forum of the Culture City of East Asia. In its 4th year ITB China, taking place from May 13 to 15, 2020 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre, has already established itself as …

For the second time in a row the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and ITB China, set to take place from May 15 to 17, 2019 in Shanghai, have joined together to promote education and professional development in the hospitality industry. HSMAI is a 90-year-old, global, non-profit association with more than 7,000 members committed to growing business for hotels and their partners. It has recently recruited Asia’s top hotel revenue managers to join forces to produce a training programme that underpins a new online industry education platform. Appropriately, on May 17 the dedicated ‘Education & Job Day’ is being held for the second time at the ITB China Conference 2019. It is focusing on the exchange of educational knowledge and the promotion of career opportunities of current and future talents of the Chinese travel industry. HSMAI will be conducting a session in the presentation hub on May 17, 2019 starting at 10 am covering the topics of Revenue Management, Data Intelligence and Hotel Sales Distributions. These topics form part of HSMAI’s Certificate in Revenue Management (Hospitality) launched in 2017 and created by the senior leaders of revenue management in hotels around the world. “HSMAI have been busy updating our current courses and developing new education and courses to assist hotel professionals to grow their careers. In 2019, we’ll be developing new programmes for hoteliers to continue their learning in digital marketing, distribution and managing commercial functions”, says Jackie Douglas, President HSMAI Asia Pacific. Huilian Duan, President of the HSMAI Greater China Chapter Board, urged her industry colleagues to get behind the education, “All Sales, Revenue and Digital Directors should be certified in their respective fields.  Only HSMAI can …

With a rapidly growing interest within both the advanced and the casual segment, China is expected to become a driving force within the adventure travel sector internationally, according to recent findings by ITB China Travel Trends Report. According to the market survey result from 300 Chinese outbound travel agents, over 52 per cent of the interviewees think Chinese travellers are willing to spend more than CNY 10,000 on each adventure trip. A survey has also been conducted among members of the ITB China’s Buyers’ Circle. 80 per cent of these surveyed businesses agree that adventure travel is a travel category that appeals most strongly to young Chinese born in the 1980s and 1990s. The trends report was created in collaboration with the international consulting and research company Kairos Future and will be presented at ITB China, set to take place from the May 15 to 17,  2019 in Shanghai. The most important three aspects that Chinese travellers care for in adventure travel are safety (30 per cent), local activities (26 per cent) and scenery (17 per cent). Safety concerns are more common in China than internationally, as travellers are far less experienced in adventure travel. Topics include safety risks of activities such as bungee jumping as well as the risk of getting lost in the wilderness, and the dangers stemming from not carrying the right equipment. Providers of adventure travel products targeting the outbound Chinese market need to tailor products to traveller segments with different expectations on difficulty, safety and comfort.

Messe Berlin, a leading trade fair and event organiser , has been awarded membership of World Tourism Alliance (WTA). With ITB China set to take place from May 15 to 17  in Shanghai, the partnership will help strengthen communication between the global and the Chinese travel industry. Sustainable tourism growth from China can be fostered through deep cooperation and support of WTA. “In this multi-layered world, WTA truly plays a unifying role in the drive for global cooperation and development in tourism. Its message of integration and cooperative dialogue has convinced us in the same way as leading tourism representatives, destinations and institutions around the world, said Dr Martin Buck, Senior Vice President, Travel & Logistics, Messe Berlin.” Liu Shijun, Secretary General, WTA, attended multiple events at ITB Berlin and met with David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China and Dr Martin Buck to talk about possible initiatives and projects. “We are extremely honoured that Messe Berlin has joined WTA and confident that with its expertise and experience, we can build a more competitive and responsible tourism industry for the benefit of all,” said Liu Shijun.  

ITB China — the largest exclusive B2B marketplace for the Chinese travel industry and will take place from May 15 to 17, 2019 in Shanghai. Recently, ITB China Buyers Circle launched its first offline event on customised and personalised outdoor activities designed for island trips in Wanning, on Hainan Island. The show also announced that it will launch the ITB China Buyers Circle in 2019, followed by the first of a series of offline events focusing on different key topics. Island trips is also one of the key topics of ITB China’s focus on “Customised and Themed Tours”. The event attracted more than 50 top buyers from the ITB China Buyers Circle to share their knowledge.

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) led a delegation of partners and stakeholders to the ITB China in a bid to capitalise on and reinforce the emirate’s popularity with Chinese travellers. The Department was joined by five key stakeholders at the travel and tourism fair, which is being held at the Shanghai World Expo and Exhibition Centre from May 16-18, including Etihad Airways, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Miral, Nirvana Travel & Tourism, and Omeir Travel Agency. Inbound visitor arrivals from China have seen dramatic rises over recent years, with the number of hotel guest rising almost 40 per cent in 2017 compared to the previous year. The first quarter of 2018 has also seen China maintain its position as leading international hotel guest supplier, with more than 127,000 Chinese staying in the emirate – an increase of 31% compared to the same period in 2017. Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director Promotions & Overseas Offices, said, “China is our number one overseas market for guests, with huge increases over the past couple of years. The first quarter of this year has continued this upward trend, with more than 30 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2017.” “These gains have been the result of the sustained attention we have given to our Chinese market, with initiatives such as sending our Discover Abu Dhabi roadshows and Abu Dhabi Week events to the country, as well investing in a targeted digital campaign in China,” Al Nuaimi said.

As part of the ongoing efforts to meet Sharjah’s target of 10 million tourists by 2021, a group of government and private organisations from the emirate led by Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) travelled to Shanghai to join this year’s edition of  ITB China taking place from May 16 to May 18, 2018. China is a key tourism market for Sharjah, which has received a total of 120,356 hotel guests in 2017 from the world’s most populous nation. The delegates will comprise top officials from, Sharjah Airport Travel Agency, Air Arabia, Cozmo Travel, Golden Tulip Hotel Apartments, Hilton Hotel Sharjah, Ramada Hotel Sharjah, Sheraton Sharjah Beach Resort & Spa, and Trav Talk Middle East. “ITB China will play a key role in our initiatives to promote Sharjah as an ideal family-friendly destination worldwide, with China being one of our target international markets. At SCTDA, we are hoping to attract as many as 200,000 Chinese visitors by 2021 and we are already working particularly hard to make this happen. Joining the interactive ITB China is one of our strategies towards this end,” said HE Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman SCTDA. “Recently, the UAE announced granting Chinese visitors with visas on arrival – a move that will further boost our efforts. ITB China is an exceptional platform to create awareness of this privilege as well as capitalize on the enormous Chinese outbound travel market and further enhance the opportunity to strengthen our bilateral tourism cooperation with the country,”Al Midfa added.

The second edition of ITB China opened doors with an expected attendee number of 15,000, more than 700 exhibitors from 80 countries and around 800 buyers at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre, with high-ranking industry representatives attending the occasion. The three-day B2B travel trade fair shows significant growth after its premiere. The success of ITB China, taking place from May 16 to May 18 in Shanghai, is reflected in the 50 per cent increase of the gross exhibition area compared to last year. ITB China is targeted exclusively by handpicked B2B visitors involved in China’s travel industry selected strictly in accordance with the interests of the exhibiting companies. A total of 2,700 attendees are expected to take part in the lectures, discussions and keynotes of the ITB China Conference, supported by more than 120 industry speakers. The recognizsd travel think tank, running parallel to ITB China, will invite business leaders and experts both from China and abroad to deliver their expertise and ideas on market hotspots in the industry. Christian Göke, CEO Messe Berlin said,  “For the next three days all eyes will be on ITB China in Shanghai. The demand from exhibitors has significantly increased and ITB China 2018 attracts growing numbers of Chinese decision-makers. After its great premiere last year ITB China continues riding the wave of success”. On the eve of the show, the second ITB China kicked off with a dinner with 600 senior guests from the global and Chinese travel industry, among others Bourne Sun, Senior Vice President, Ctrip and Steven Shu, Chief Marketing Officer, Meituan-Dianping.

Finland has been selected as the destination partner for ITB China, set to be held in Shanghai from May 16-18, 2018. Around 50 delegates from Finland, which has a strong presence on the show floor, will be representing the country at ITB China this year. Finland will also be the co-host of ITB China’s official opening dinner with some 600 guests in attendance. “Finland has proven that it is attaching great importance in enhancing Chinese tourists’ travel experience. Finland is running a multitude of visa centres in China, working on e-visa solutions for Chinese tourists and has opened up for Chinese mobile payments systems, thereby adding a lot of convenience for the Chinese visiting Finland. These are just some examples clearly proving Finland’s devotion to the Chinese travel market,” said David Axiotis, General Manager, ITB China. Paavo Virkkunen, Executive Vice President, Business Finland & Head of VisitFinland, commented, “Chinese travellers are a very important tourism source market for Finland, and the growth in visitor numbers has been impressive in recent years. We are working to enhance our partnership with travel trade partners in China to provide unqiue travel products to Chinese travellers and ITB China provides us with a great platform to present Finland to Chinese decision makers.”