TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
At the first ITB China, some 600 exhibiting companies from nearly 70 countries met with over 10,000 attendees and buyers from May 10-12, 2017.
TT BUREAU
A total of 2,700 attendees took part in the lectures, discussions and keynotes, given by 70 industry speakers at ITB China. The keynotes proved to be major visitor attractions. Over 10,000 pre-scheduled appointments between exhibitors and hosted Chinese buyers were realised during the show. The quality of visitors contributed to strong business outcomes for the exhibitors at ITB China.
The spotlight was on the partner destination Europe, which featured a multitude of national presences paired with strong individual attendances of major European destinations. Next year ITB China will take place from May 1618, 2018, at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Dr. Christian Göke, CEO, Messe Berlin, said, “I am extremely delighted with the way our first edition went. Our new Chinese ITB brand was the focus of general interest to a great degree, especially amongst Chinese buyers. ITB China marked a special milestone with 10,000 attendees participating in this significant premiere and also showed how important faceto-face meetings remain in the digital age. We can look back at a very successful trade show and set the stage for ITB China 2018.”
The three days of ITB China offered many fabulous opportunities for discussion, networking and making new valuable industry contacts during the Opening Dinner, ITB China Cruise Night and After-show parties.
Meituan-Dianping hosted a speed-dating event on the first day of ITB China with more than 400 participants in attendance. The event enabled buyers to establish valuable links with Meituan- Dianping in the shortest possible time. The World Bridge Tourism project took place alongside ITB China in Shanghai.
About 350 people attended this networking workshop involved hosting 100 European tourism suppliers who met with a similar number of Chinese outbound operators. ITB China also featured numerous on-site events, panel discussions and workshops that enabled visitors and exhibitors to engage with Chinese travel bloggers. The Blogger Speed Dating Event and the Blogger Lunch met with an extremely positive response.
