Bit BuyItaly, the first workshop in the world for the Italy product, saw the presence of 600 top buyers from 50 nations and more than 2,000 Italian sellers, exceeding the number of business appointments of the 2012 edition, reaching the number of 19,152.
MILAN – A Bit 2013 of encounters and discussions about tourism, which has just closed at fieramilano in Rho, following four days of meetings, events and presentations.
A renewed edition, starting from the ability to listen to the players of the sector: it opened with the official presentation of the Strategic Plan for the development of tourism in Italy, in the presence of the Ministry of Regional Affairs, Tourism and Sport, Piero Gnudi and of the General Secretary of the UNWTO Taleb Rifai.
The decision made to present the Strategic Plan in Bit gives recognition to this professional exposition, among the major tourism trade fairs in Europe, in the role of business hub for the tourism offer.
Bit BuyItaly, the first workshop in the world for the Italy product, saw the presence of 600 top buyers from 50 nations and more than 2,000 Italian sellers, exceeding the number of business appointments of the 2012 edition, reaching the number of 19,152.
25% of the buyers present were new entries, who had never participated in a workshop in Italy. An important presence has been that of the emerging economies: with an increase of buyers from China, presence of the new countries participating, among them, Kazakhstan and South Africa; there were also large numbers from India and Russia, with Israel in growth. Among the traditional markets to indicate are the North American and German buyers.
“This edition, with its attendance of 84,000″ comments Marco Serioli, Exhibitions Director of Fiera Milano “has demonstrated substantial solidity of the professional operators, while as has been expected, the public of travellers has decreased (30,400)”.
In the first place, the presence of China as the Guest of Honour nation: the planet’s largest emerging economy is the third incoming market in the world and it will be the first outgoing market within 2015 – year of the Expo – with flows in continual growth also towards Italy.
“We are happy to have been the Guest of Honour nation of this Bit” declares Liu Cheng, General Director of the Chinese National Office of Tourism “a unique opportunity for visibility and communication. As a country, we are moreover very satisfied with the quality of the trade fair public as well as the flow of travellers”.
Today Bit has become the most important relational platform of the sector, the confirmation of this fact being the workshops that have been organised in the trade fair which have enriched the exposition offer, obtaining great success regarding participation. Organised in collaboration with Business International, the meetings reunited over 2,000 participants who followed the appointments, with particularly elevated presence in the seminars dedicated to the new sales techniques, in addition to those on the theme of digital marketing – online and social.
Moreover, Bit has had advance knowledge of winning trends: the attention given to thematic tourism – the importance of which is highlighted also in the Strategic Plan – takes form in the four focus areas dedicated respectively to nature, culture, taste and adventure.
The attention that travellers and professionals of the sector have given to the social instruments of Bit: approximately 27 thousand fans that populate the Facebook page and over 3,000 followers of the Twitter account @bitmilano #Bit2013. The Facebook application “What kind of traveller are you?” has been used by over 20 thousand persons in order to individuate their own profile as a traveller by means of a fun test-game.
For the second time, simultaneously with Bit 2013, the Eudi Show, the European Salon of underwater activities, was held, currently in its 21st edition.
The appointment with Bit 2014 will be at the fieramilano trade fair quarter in Rho from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 February.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
