ITE & MICE, Hong Kong’s only travel fair, which covers both leisure and MICE, draws over 11000 regional buyers and trade visitors with a quarter of them from mainland China and abroad in its two trade days, and nearly 70000 public visitors with over 70% being FIT in the two public days. By sectors, some 5000 trade visitors are from travel agents / tour operators, and around 3000 from corporations and the event industries.
The next ITE & MICE, will be it 26th edition, held from June 14 to 17, 2012 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center, with the first two days open only to trade and corporate visitors, and the last two to the public.
ITE & MICE has a high international profile of exhibitors, as around half of its 56 exhibiting countries and regions were from outside Asia, and some 80% of its 648 exhibitors this year were from outside Hong Kong. Around 100 of them also target the MICE market.
As outbound MICE often involve choosing destination before venue, there is obvious synergy to combine leisure with MICE. Further, the second trade day is designated as MICE / Corporate Travel Day with a series of related seminars help drawing in more corporate visitors. Other themes highlighted in ITE & MICE included Wellness & Medical Tourism (WMT), and Cruise Travel, and each with its own trade seminar. Over 30 tourism authorities from Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East staged official stands / pavilions, and some of which include WMT, cruises and other themes.
Each with sufficient number of visitors from the regional travel trade, MICE segments, and FIT / the public, ITE & MICE thus offer an effective one-stop platform in Asia for promotion and conducting businesses.
Hong Kong’s international tourism expenditure amounted to US$16 billion in 2009, ranked third in Asia after mainland China and Japan. Hong Kong is thus, by itself, a substantial source market.
ITE & MICE is organized by TKS Exhibition Services Ltd, and supported by China National Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, and the Macau Government Tourists Office. Cathay and Dragonair are Official Airlines, and MTR is Official Rail of ITE & MICE.
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