Beijing’s biggest tourism expo concluded with resounding success as confidence in the tourism industry was given a tremendous boost by actual business deals estimated at CNY2.5 billion or USD1.054 billion in the three-day event.
“The increased participation of various national tourism organisations (NTOs) around the globe to Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) 2009 indicates a level of expansion, not only within the show, but also on the continuing interest in China’s growing tourism market”, said Mr. Edward Liu, Managing Director of Conference and Exhibition Management Services (CEMS).
“The attention that China holds in the global tourism market, an aftermath of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, continues to soar high resulting in a more vibrant partnership amongst sectors within the industry”, Liu added.
Spreading across a gross exhibition area of 23,700 square meters at the Beijing Exhibition Centre from 18 to 20 July 2009, BITE 2009’s exhibitors totaled at 593 from 82 countries and 25 China provinces including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The 8% increase of participants from 2008 presentation is also accounted to the first time entry of 16 countries like: Algeria, Antigua & Barbuda, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Grenada, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Republic of Guinea, South Africa, Sultanate of Oman, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.
Direct consumption to Beijing’s tourism industry was also seen to have reached CNY7.2 million or USD1.054 million.
With over 40,000 buyers and 80,000 public visitors, BITE 2009 has raised the bar in Beijing’s tourism expos with the most quality attendance to date.
International marketplace
Despite of threats on the AH1N1 virus and the global financial crisis, various national tourism organisations (NTOs) were joined by other international private exhibitors ranging from travel agents, tour operators, destination management consultants, leading hotel, resort and airline players and other allied service providers in putting up very interesting promotional showcases of their products and services all aimed at attracting the Chinese travelers.
“BITE 2009 has provided Emirates an effective platform to our outstanding services as well as a great opportunity to target China’s outbound market”, said Mr. Edwin Lau, Vice President, Greater China, Emirates Airline.
“Emirates Airline has always viewed China’s market as an important market. Although we are witnessing a world-wide financial crisis now, we hold unfaltering belief in China’s tourism market and will continue to strive towards excellence in our services in order to exceed expectations of our customers”, he added.
China’s thriving outbound tourism has seen to be one of the most powerful emerging sectors in global tourism. China’s tourism revenue registered steady growth for the past years. Prior to Beijing Olympics in 2008, the whole year of 2007 welcomed a total of 1.783 billion tourists reaching a record high of RMB1.9 trillion on the total tourism revenue, posing increases of 15% and 22.6% respectively over the previous year. In this year, China hosted a total of 132 million inbound tourists including 54.72 million arrivals who stayed at least one night in the country, representing growth rates of 5.5% and 9.6% respectively compared to the previous year. The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) reports that its inbound revenue had increased 15-fold from US$2 billion in 1990 to almost US$34billion in 2006.
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