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For a country where less than 2.1% of the population takes overseas trips, China has developed quite an early fascination with travel & tourism exhibitions. This year, six international fairs featuring outbound travel will be held, in addition to summits, conferences and numerous domestic and inbound fairs run by provincial tourism boards across the country. Two of these only started in 2005. Despite the hype from tourism boards and exhibition companies, most fairs are dogged by low public attendance and a lack of proper organisation. Visitor figures cannot be trusted to show a realistic account of a fair’s outcome. A new report from ChinaContact provides a critical overview of all the international travel trade events to be held in China in the coming year.
In the China travel trade event world, the list of acronyms is certainly impressive: GITF, WTF, BITE, BITTM, CIBTM, CITM, IT&CM China, TDC China, ITMS, ALTM, COTC, IFCOT.
What do they all mean, and how are the international travel industry professionals to know which are worth investing in? Is supply running ahead of demand? How should you prepare for an exhibition in China to gain maximum benefit and avoid wasting time and money?
A newly published report on China’s travel trade events available from ChinaContact aims to answer these questions and give an overview of the internationally promoted events that are held in China in 2006 and 2007. The report has been prepared for the WTM-ChinaContact conference on bilateral tourism relations with China, ‘China – the future of Travel’ which will be held at World Travel Market, London on 6 November 2006.
The report’s author, Roy Graff said: “our clients are often confused about the numerous travel events happening in China as all claim to provide the best opportunities for doing business and marketing your product. Since the events sector in China is still not at a western professional standard it is important to know in advance which fairs, conferences or summits are really worth while. The new report provides some insight as well as offering practical tips on what to look out for and how to prepare for a successful exhibition in China”
The conference ‘China – the future of Travel’ will feature a special session on China’s travel trade events which invites all currently held exhibitions and conferences on international tourism to address the conference delegates directly on the merits of their event. The delegates will be a mix of Western and European tourism professionals representing the inbound and outbound tourism sectors in hospitality, tour operation, technology, travel trade media and destination promotion.
Roy Graff (roy@ccontact.com) is the Managing Director of ChinaContact, an independent China market entry specialist for the tourism industry.
China – the future of Travel secretariat: future@ccontact.com
Website: www.future-of-travel.org
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
