Tag Archives: ITB China

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.”

Wyndham Hotel Group has become the official partner hotel of the second edition of ITB China 2018, set to take place from May 16-18 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Conference Centre. A corresponding agreement was signed by Leo Liu, President, Greater China Wyndham Group and David Axiotis, General Manager, ITB China. The hotel group will connect brand new products and innovative services of tourism with the best industry experts in one place. With becoming the official hotel partner of China’s new marketplace for the travel industry, the Wyndham Hotel Group Greater China further solidifies its position as a leading international hospitality company. Liu said, “As one of the international leading hotel groups, Wyndham Hotel Group is pleased to partner with ITB China, a leading international travel expo, in a premier event that offers a professional take on the travel industry in a joint effort to promote its development and therefore deliver better travel experience for Chinese travellers.“ Axiotis said, “We are proud to collaborate with the Wyndham Hotel Group as partners who understands their business and markets so well. I am confident this will be a win-win partnership for both ITB China and Wyndham.”

Around 600 companies, destinations, organisations and travel service providers from nearly 70 countries and territories will be represented in China’s new three-day business to business travel trade show on the grounds of the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Conference Centre. ITB China is the Chinese off-shoot of annual ITB Berlin, the World´s Largest Travel Trade Show ®, and its sister show, ITB Asia, in Singapore. The inaugural event has attracted around 600 exhibitors among which 28% are offering MICE products, 34% leisure, 31% Corporate and 7% travel technology solutions. More than one third of the exhibitors made their way from all over Asia and China to the first ITB China. Around 40% coming from European countries, 10% from the Middle East and some 10% from the Americas.

China Eastern and ITB China have signed a corresponding partnership agreement. ITB China will take place from May 10 to 12, 2017 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Conference Center. The event, an international offshoot of one of Messe Berlin’s most successful trade fairs will take place annually and focus on the Chinese travel industry. David Axiotis, General Manager ITB China: “China Eastern has once again underlined its constantly growing role in China’s aviation by serving round about 100 million passengers last year. With China Eastern Airlines ITB China has gained a very strong and valuable partner airline for its inaugural show and we are looking forward to a mutually beneficial partnership”. The three day B2B tradeshow and convention is designed to be the primary event for the Chinese travel industry and the event’s airline partner, China Eastern, is offering special fares for those flying to the exhibition.