The premiere edition of CEMS Beijing International Travel Mart 2017 (BITM) launched by Mr. Edward Liu PBM, Group Managing Director of Conference and Exhibition Management Services at the China National Convention Center has concluded with much success.
The three-day trade show, held from 16 – 18 November 2017, focuses on tourism business and development, and promotes business exchanges through B2B sessions, destination workshops and presentations, as well as market analysis forums. The first two days are catered towards local buyers and trade visitors, and the last day is open to members of the public.
Despite it being its first edition, the trade show boasted over 100 international South Africa and Sudan amongst a myriad of countries and Sri Lanka’s pavilion, a crowd favourite.
Over the three days, the show has attracted approximately 200 local buyers and 400 trade visitors from Beijing and its neighboring provinces whom thronged the finest selection of tourism products and packages offered by exhibitors.
A stellar stage programme featuring veterans from the tourism industry was met with a fully-packed hall, and mesmerizing performances by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s dance troupe captivated attendees.
The first day of the show saw Mdm. Jiang YiYi of China Tourism Academy sharing valuable insights on the travelling preferences and trends of Chinese tourists in her forum on big data analysis of China and Beijing’s outbound tourism market.
Mr. Zhao Tong and his colleague from BOE Technology then showcased innovative gadgets and apps such as a cloud-based digital photo frame as well as a non-invasive blood monitoring device during their product presentation on the integration of tourism, art & technology.
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Miodrag Popovic of the Tourist Organisation of Belgrade introduced the multi-faceted attractions and rich history of Belgrade in his destination workshop, “Belgrade, Serbia – New European Destination For Chinese Market.”
Mr. Daksh Sharma from TravHQ Media Pvt. Ltd then ended off the stage programme with his travel tech workshop on “Going Global Instantly – Leveraging on New Media Tools”, where he demonstrated how to increase audience reach through digital marketing and tips on attaining positive ratings from travellers.
A Token of Appreciation Ceremony was held at the welcome reception thereafter, where outstanding exhibitors were given plaques in recognition of their contributions.
On the second day, Mr. Chinthaka Liyanaarachchi conducted a destination forum on the wonders of Sri Lanka and Mr. Kwakye Donkor moderated a panel discussion on the emerging African tourism frontiers with five other panelists; where topics such as ease of travel to Africa for Chinese travellers were discussed at length.
In response to the positive feedback from both exhibitors, local buyers and trade visitors, Beijing International Travel Mart is slated to return for its second edition in October 2018.
