ITB China Officially Launches New Inbound Travel Segment
Shanghai (China) – December 4, 2019 (travelindex.com) – In order to promote Chinese travel products to the world and help facilitate the Chinese tourism industry to grow bigger and stronger, ITB China, set to take place from 13-15 May 2020 in Shanghai, has announced to launch a dedicated China inbound travel segment for its upcoming edition. ITB China will thus expand its hosted buyers program by almost 25% year-on-year to a total of more than 1,050 hosted buyers, of which around 200 will be China-focused international travel buyers, covering China’s major source markets.
The organizers of ITB China are coming up with a key line-up of leading international travel associations from the world’s most important source markets for China as strategic partners, supporting the event’s new inbound segment. The German Travel Association (Deutscher ReiseVerband – DRV), the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) as well as the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) are among the first-movers to work jointly with ITB China to bring international buyer delegations to Shanghai, and share their insights on Chinese inbound travel developments with the participants. Also, over the three days conference sessions and networking events will complement the event and provide first-hand information on inbound travel in China.
“With the cooperation agreed between DRV and ITB China, we are increasing the mutual visibility and perception of our organisations. At the same time, DRV and ITB China are making an important contribution to strengthening the travel industry, both in Germany and in China. This will prove beneficial not only to industry members but also to travelers and holidaymakers,” said DRV-President Mr. Norbert Fiebig.
Mr. Tadashi Shimura, chairman of JATA, said: “Last year, the number of travelers between China and Japan exceeded 10 million, and it is even expected to reach a new high this year. Both countries are looking forward to raising the number to 15 million. As of now more Japanese travel to China than the other way around. So we need to increase the number of Japanese tourists coming to China in the future. We will have to offer more tailor-made travel products for the Chinese visitors, such as offering culture and food travel products, which may have become a great motivation for travelers choosing their destinations. JATA attached great importance to the cooperation with ITB China. We hope that all industry colleagues in Japan will become actively involved.”
The ITB China Conference, the leading Chinese travel think tank, is being held during the trade show and will set inbound travel as a new key issue. Among the early confirmed speakers are Ms. Gloria Wu, Ecommerce Center-General Manager, China Travel Service (H.K.) who will give a speech on “Tourism Exploration of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Modern Cities” and Mr. Michael Zhou, President, Guilin Tang Dynasty Tours who will discuss the topic of “Building Quality Inbound Tourism Products with Comprehensive Overseas Marketing Strategies” in his talk.
Mr. James Liang, Co-Founder, executive chairman of Ctrip: “Product globalization is transitioning into service globalization, so is the tourism industry. In many developed economies, the weight of the tourism industry has exceeded 10 percent, with increasingly highlighted value. Compared with other countries and regions, China’s inbound tourist market represents unparalleled potentials. According to Ctrip’s internationalization strategy, inbound tourism is one of the critical components. We hope that China would further improve the convenience of visa application process, create a shared national brand and attract worldwide travelers to China. Meanwhile, we are eager to partner with ITB China in these efforts.”
“China as a tourist destination has an incredibly diverse landscape. The country’s rich historical heritage of more than 5,000 years is providing international visitors with countless, though unique travel experiences. We look forward to joining forces with our international and Chinese partners to promote inbound tourism to China and thereby completing ITB China’s event profile as the unique platform, which is fully bridging the Chinese with the global travel industry”, said David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China.
ITB China 2020 buyer registration is now live, buyers can apply under the following link: <a href="http://reg.itb-china.com/Pages/web/buyerRegister.shtml?language=en" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=
About ITB China and the ITB China Conference
ITB China is China’s largest B2B exclusive travel trade show. ITB China 2020 will take place from Wednesday to Friday, 13 to 15 May, at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre. ITB China is a three-day business to a business travel trade fair that focuses exclusively on the Chinese travel industry. The ITB China Conference will take place parallel to the show and is co-organized by the leading conference organizer TravelDaily.