The annual ITE & MICE, a co-location of International Travel Expo Hong Kong (ITE) and MICE Travel Expo (ITE MICE), covers the regional Travel Trade, MICE & Corporate travel, and Hong Kong’s wealthy FIT market, each of which had its own visitor promotions and seminars. In fact, ITE MICE is also supported by event industry associations, and the 2nd trade day designated MICE / CORPORATE TRAVEL DAY with relevant seminars.
Of the 3000 corporate & MICE visitors, 11% came from banking, finance and insurance; 14% from training, education and professional services; and 13% from PR, advertising agencies and the event industries etc. Their purposes of visit are 86% of seeking destination info, 55% looking for venue, and 25% for special offers, reflecting outbound MICE involve choosing first destination then venue etc.
The travel fairs now has four times more corporate / MICE visitors since the co-location in 2006, and draws around 100 exhibitors who target MICE. In all, ITE & MICE had over 600 international exhibitors from some 60 countries & regions with over 80% of them from outside Hong Kong. Besides MICE, other themes like Cruise, Wellness & Medical Tourism and various deluxe travel products etc on display, the new theme of Honeymooning and Overseas Wedding will be highlighted this year.
Overall, ITE & MICE 2011 drew 12000 buyers and visitors in the two trade days with 73% from Hong Kong, 17% from mainland China and 10% from abroad. Among them were some 5000 from travel agents, 800 from media, and 3000 from corporations and MICE industry.
In 2010, Hong Kong (population 7.1 million) incurred US$17.5 billion on international tourism expenditure and ranked fourth in Asia after China (mainland), Japan and South Korea, but ranked ahead of them all by per capita spending. The Hong Kong SAR passport allows holder to visit over 140 countries and regions in the world, including EU, without visa, and English remains an official language.
The two public days of ITE & MICE draw around 70,000 visitors. Survey findings show they are likely up market travelers: 72% prefer FIT and 5% tailor-made tours; 43% with university education and 24% post-secondary.
ITE & MICE is supported by China National Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, and Macau Government Tourist Office, event industry associations in Hong Kong and Macau, and several trade associations in Asia. Official Air, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, sponsor the hosted buyer program of ITE & MICE.
For more details and regular market news, please visit www.itehk.com. For exhibiting / visiting enquiry, please email to the organizer, TKS, at travel@tkshk.com.
