by Reinhard Hohler
The annual Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) is one of Asia’s leading and most reliable tourism events. It has positioned itself as an international event, which provides business exchanges and co-operation, rich content and professional services. It has won both international and regional acclaim amongst the travel and tourism industry as an event not to be missed in the Asia Pacific region.
In its 7th edition, BITE2010 is scheduled to be held at the new and 33,000sqm large China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) on June 25-27. Committed to present the highest quality of exhibitors, buyers and media from around the world, BITE2010 packs in an enormous showcase of tourism destinations, attractions, as well as travel-related goods and services. What to expect is impressively shown with the report of the 6th edition of BITE in 2009: BITE2009 witnessed 82 countries and regions (28 country pavilions among them) as well as 25 Chinese provinces and cities to exhibit in a space of 23,700sqm. Furthermore, BITE2009 has attracted 267
international and 326 Chinese exhibitors as well as welcomed a total of 200 hosted buyers, including 100 from overseas. Also, BITE2009 counted more than 40,000 trade and 80,000 public visitors within its course of 3 days.
International tourism is set to change radically in the next 10 years, as tourism in China continues to grow rapidly. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), global tourism will continue to grow at a solid pace of 4.4% per annum accounting for an estimate of US$15 trillion by 2018. With the economic development within China, tourism will see that the country will reach from fourth to second position in 2018 and consume four-fold more travel & tourism products and services by 2018. Growth figure is estimated at RMB2,465 billion, which equates to an impressive annual growth rate of 8.9% for China alone. Last not least, the impact of strong Chinese tourism will amply offset the weak performance from mature markets such as the United States and Europe.
The event is organized by the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA), which is a functional department of the Beijing Municipal Government; Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte Ltd (CEMS) in Singapore; and the Beijing Relation Exhibition Co Ltd. (BRE), which is a professional exhibition organizing company.
