by Joachim Fischer

The People’s Government of Guangdong Province announced Monday in Beijing that the China International Tourism Industry Expo 2011 will be held in Guangzhou in September. As opposed to previous tourism exhibitions in Guangdong, this expo will cooperate with the National Tourism Administration of China for the first time, with more exhibitors and areas participating. According to the organizer, the expo will cover both the tourism industry as well as other consumer industries, including business, leisure and others, offering the latest international travel trends and market information.

Due to the rapid increase in the domestic “meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition” (MICE) market, which is growing by 20 percent every year, this expo will set up a special area for MICE. “The highlight will be the MICE, including hotels, airlines, cruises and houseboats showing in the expo,” introduced Wang Zhihong, the deputy director of Tourism Administration of Guangdong (TAG). According to TAG, outbound visitors from Guangdong totaled 39,585,296 in 2010, an increase of 20.50 percent, accounting for 70 percent of the total national outbound figures.