Tag Archives: MeetChina

MeetChina, the business forum for travel buyers from China and tourism suppliers from the MENA region, returns to Yas Island Abu Dhabi for the first time since the pandemic. Taking place at Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island, the event will kick off on September 4, 2023, with two days of intensive meetings aimed at reestablishing tourism ties between China and the region. MeetChina is owned and operated by NPI Media, with the support of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT – Abu Dhabi) along with Yas Island as the Destination Partner. Now in its 10th year, the 2023 edition will welcome up to 100 top senior-level Chinese travel buyers. Playing an integral role in the resurgence of China’s outbound travel market, MeetChina guarantees tourism stakeholders from across the UAE an opportunity to secure business from China through pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings and networking sessions over the course of two days. Event registration is open to government tourism organisations, hotels, destination management companies (DMCs), attractions, excursion providers, shopping malls and luxury retail brands. In 2019, outbound travel from China contributed over US$253 billion to the global economy – the highest of any country. Chinese tourists took more than 150 million trips during the year, making them outsized contributors to the international travel market. Earlier this year, the country eased all restrictions, allowing outbound travel activity to resume. According to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), Chinese travellers are projected to take around 110 million international trips in 2023, which is two-thirds of the 2019 level, while 2024 will see the country’s outbound travel figures touch the 155 million mark. During the past decade, China consistently ranked among …

The eighth annual MeetChina event kicked off in the capital on September 2, with two days of intensive meetings taking place at Yas Conference Centre at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi’s entertainment and leisure hub. The forum this year connects more than 100 top-tier Chinese travel buyers with 75 tourism stakeholders from across the UAE with one main purpose – to grow Chinese visitation to the UAE. Since the event was launched in 2011, tourism from China has grown four-fold across the UAE and the country has become Abu Dhabi’s number one international source market. MeetChina enables suppliers to connect with buyers during the event with 90 per cent of attendees re-booking year-on-year. MeetChina is owned and organised by NPI Media which partners with Mini Spider (Beijing) to pre-qualify attendance and ensure the participation of senior level buyers from companies seeking to grow outbound travel business from China to the UAE. The event is hosted by Yas Island and supported by the Department of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi. Buyer attendance at MeetChina represents a broad spectrum of locations in mainland China, including Chengdu, Chongqing, Ningxia, Shenzhen, Yinchuan, Zhengzhou apart from Shanghai and Beijing. Rob Nicholas, Managing Director of NPI Media, said, “The popularity of MeetChina has meant that we had an overwhelming number of applications from buyers to attend this year and could be even more selective than usual to ensure we had not only record attendance, but also the best quality of buyers to introduce to tourism stakeholders in the UAE.” Marina Cipriano, General Manager of Experience Hub, the trade and promotion arm of Yas Island, said, “As one of the world’s fastest growing leisure and entertainment destinations, …