16,353 business meetings strengthen match-making: +13%; 7,500 participants in 120 conferences.
MILAN – BIT – Borsa Internazionale del Turismo [International Travel Exhibition ended at fieramilanocity and MiCo on a high note: three business days which, with their 16,353 match-making meetings (+13% compared to 2016), brought together 2,000 exhibitors and 1,500 Italian and foreign profiled top buyers, in addition to over 200 travel bloggers and 2,000 accredited media representatives.
Industry operators welcomed the new quality-focused formula, in the exhibition's new location in synergy with the city of Milan as well as its optimised areas for a more segmented, target-based visit. “Both exhibitors and professional visitors were very satisfied with the event – commented the President of Fiera Milano, Roberto Rettani –. BIT was relaunched in the best way possible, as the most important marketplace for tourism, especially for Italian excellence. Fiera Milano thus strengthened its mission as a catalyst for the best energies in the flagship sectors of Italian production”.
“We chose BIT because it was the ideal place where to present our new Argentina, open to the world, to Italians" commented the Minister of Tourism Gustavo Santos. "During BIT we also offered special flight deals which, thanks to the new code-sharing agreement between Alitalia and Aerolineas Argentinas, now reach an increasing number of destinations in a Country which extends for 5,000 kms and offers an amazing variety of landscapes".
“I personally participated in the exhibition so that I could evaluate directly its effectiveness, and I must say I was definitely impressed" said the Croatian Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli "especially by the quantity and quality of business meetings. I can already tell you that we intend to increase our presence next year”.
“The exhibition was for us a place where to start again" said Olga Mazzoni, President for Italy of Visit Usa "to promote the USA together, in a crucial marketplace like that of Milan and on the Italian market which is a ‘number one’ for us. To be here with a new BIT 2017 is to look to the future”.
“BIT 2017 coincided with our relaunch plan in Italy and worldwide" added Francesco Moneta, Representative of Visit Russia in Milan "and it was the opportunity to present the new guidelines for Russian tourist opportunities, based on experience tourism. The importance of the event is underlined by the fact that several of our destinations produced material in Italian specifically for this event”.
Mario Degli Innocenti, Marketing Officer of the Thailand Tourism Authority, added: “The picture is very positive in terms of participants, interest and maturity of contacts, which is ideal to promote Thailand as a year-round destination. Excellent formula with the new location in the city of Milan”.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
