Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS) announced the launch of its 2nd edition of Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2018 at CEMS’ Appreciation Dinner 2018 at the Kempinski Hotel Beijing, China on 16 January 2018. The event was attended by country representatives from some 30 different national tourism organisations and embassies in Beijing, representatives from local associations including the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Beijing Tourism, China Association of Travel Services (CATS) and the Wuhan Tourism Association, and hosted buyers, local media partners and supporting partners.

The 2nd Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2018 will be held at China International Exhibition Center (CIEC), Beijing from 5 to 7 September 2018. The three-day event, open to hosted buyers and trade visitors on the first two days and to public visitors on the last day, is a key highlight of the current 2018 EU-China Tourism Year and Canada-China Year of Tourism 2018 initiatives.

Covering a gross area of 4,400 square metres, BITM 2018 will feature over 200 international exhibitors from over 25 countries. The countries of Europe are expected to form a significant EU Pavilion to highlight the touristic attractions and programmes in line with 2018 EU-China Tourism Year. In addition, the event is expected to attract some 400 local buyers and is projected to attract 3,000 trade and public visitors from the MICE, OTAs, travel agents, corporates and trade associations.

To accentuate the objectives of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year initiative, a panel discussion on the first day of the BITM 2018, would feature prominent captains of industry from both Europe and China who will explore extended cooperation between the two regions. Another forum on the second day would be dedicated to the latest travel technologies that are being implemented across the global tourism industry. There will also be specially curated workshops running concurrently with the exhibition to provide attendees with relevant industry updates.

Exhibitors will be delighted by the customised business matchings through a one-on-one meeting interaction technology to maximise the efficiency of their pre-scheduled appointments with the preferred local buyers. With this, exhibitors and buyers can expect to have fruitful discussions and collaborations at these meetings.

Beijing, the capital of China, is the world’s third most populous city and is ranked one of the top 10 cities of China’s outbound generating markets for year 2017. By 2022, the number of Chinese outbound tourists will more than double that of the outbound tourists’ number in 2017.

“China’s ever-growing outbound travel and tourism market is becoming increasingly diverse and dynamic. BITM 2018 provides a globalised one-stop sourcing platform for exhibitors, quality buyers, international and local media, as well as other stakeholders within the tourism industry to effectively reach out to the Chinese travel market,” said Edward Liu, Group Managing Director of Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS), the organiser.

CEMS is the founder of the Beijing International Travel Expo (BITE) series held in Beijing, China and has an impressive track record of over 13 years of continued success in the tourism exhibition. CEMS has an impressive portfolio of 25 successful professional international tourism exhibitions such as BITE, CGITE, XSPRITE and CITE, drawing participants from across 80 countries over the last 15 years.

For more information on the 2nd Beijing International Travel Mart 2017, please visit www.BITMChina.com

The post CEMS Launches 2nd Edition of the Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2018 at CEMS® Tourism Series 2018 appeared first on TravHQ.

There is not a single industry that has remained unaffected by the dawn of social media, and the travel and tourism industry is no different. Before social media came into the picture, peer reviews and photos of your dream destination weren’t as easy to access. Today, the ease of accessibility to destination information has put the spotlight on why the industry must leverage new media tools to benefit themselves.

During the recently concluded Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2017, Daksh Sharma, Founding Partner at TravHQ, conducted a workshop on ‘Going Global Instantly – Leveraging New Media Tools’ and how the travel industry can adapt to the rapidly changing needs of its audience.

Here are some key highlights from the session:

Pictures speak a thousand words
Social media is the best way to show off any destination, and also boost engagement on your profile at the same time.When choosing a destination, visitors want to take a visual tour of their potential destination; images give guests the liberty to interpret the destination, and social media gives them the opportunity to share their travel itinerary visually. Social media platforms like Instagram, allow people to do exactly that and with travel brands promoting their destinations through peppy contests, the trend helps them engage their followers by encouraging them to share their opinions. Hence, many hotel and homestay owners are tapping into the pool of travellers via Instagram. Take a cue from Eco Habitat in Coorg:

Video testimonials are like 22 carat gold

Video content is booming in China, with 41.5% of the country forecast to be digital video watchers. The most popular apps include Miaopai, Toutiao Video, Kuaishou and Meipai, and even the posts from the most popular destination marketing organizations have visually pleasing, photo-rich content, alongside practical travel information. From boutique hotels to homestays in far-flung areas of the world, everyone is jumping on the video bandwagon.

For instance, the Mount Lavinia Hotel in Sri Lanka made a promotional video for its hotel in the Mandarin language to be able to attract Chinese audience through its video content. Watch the video here:

The Travel Influencer connect

Close to a quarter of Chinese travellers are independent travellers, aged between 20 and 25. This Millennial group looks for inspiration for their next travel by visiting their favourite bloggers, Instagrammers and YouTubers, rather than relying on traditional advertising mediums such as TV, newspapers and banners. This is where travel influencers step in. With followers running into hundreds of thousands (and even millions sometimes), they enable travel brands to reach audiences worldwide. With their unique storytelling through visual content and first-hand experiences of travelling, they are able to influence people in a way like no other. Today, a brand recommendation from an influencer carries more weight than any other endorsement, and many travel properties are vying for the attention of top influencers to boost their destinations’ allure.

Responsibility towards responses

According to travel site TripAdvisor, as much as 93 percent of executives consider the improvement and management of their online reviews as the most important factor to the future of their business. By taking out time to listen to, and respond to guest feedback, travel brands can strengthen their reputation, improve social media performance, and even boost financial outcomes. On the other hand, failure to respond to reviews, especially the negative ones, can cost companies dearly, in the form of lower review scores and overall ratings.

Top DIY tools for social media marketing

While the Internet is awash with new social media management tools, the right ones can definitely make social media content easy to create, curate, manage, schedule and finally, analyze the effectiveness of campaigns. From the most popular image editing app Snapseed, to Canva, the free, graphic-design tool website that lets you create beautiful social media content, and video editor app Quik, these new media tools are beneficial to brands in more ways than one.

Image source: Android Community

The post Highlights from workshop on leveraging new media tools – BITM 2017 appeared first on TravHQ.

Chinese travellers are a strong force to reckon with all over the globe. Boosted by a rising Chinese currency, they are now the top source of tourism cash in the world.

China’s outbound tourism growth over the last decade has been nothing short of phenomenal. Chinese international tourism spend has more than tripled since the US$73 billion recorded in 2011, reaching US$261 billion in 2016. CLSA anticipates Chinese tourists will continue spending overseas to reach US$429 billion in 2021.

While Chinese travellers have long outgrown the need to shop on a holiday due to increased availability of international goods on the mainland, they still look for new experiences, while keeping safety in mind. For instance, CLSA’s 2017 findings indicate that events such as the terrorist attacks in Europe and political instability on the Korean peninsula highly impacted their travel choices.

In light of these statistics, it becomes imperative for tourism boards, travel companies and OTAs to up the ante and attract more Chinese tourists to their region – from having a website in the native language, to establishing partnerships with local Chinese agencies, and some major online blitzkrieg.

There has been a boom in the digital era in China. Internet in China is increasing its influence and online communication has now become almost mandatory. With a low initial investment, measurable ROI, and a wide range of media, all these make online promotion a big factor in the Chinese tourism sector. Using quality Multimedia is also an effective tool. For example, New Zealand conducted a major operation in digital communications and succeeded in attracting many Chinese tourists to its country. Social media is another huge travel influencer when it comes to the Chinese people. The major part of Chinese Internet users spend time on social networks like WeChat and Weibo, two very powerful tools that help your brand spread the core message to millions of users.

At the recently concluded Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM), TravHQ spoke to Asheri Kiisay, Managing Director at Acacia Farm Lodge, a luxury country lodge in Tanzania, about the country, how to meet the expectations of the Chinese traveller and what destinations can do to attract them via social media.

The event witnessed panel discussions by domain experts from all over the world to deliver actionable insights and offer a peek into how travel trends vary across geographies.

The post Insights from BITM 2017 – How to tap the Chinese outbound traveller appeared first on TravHQ.

We spoke to Mr. Edward Liu, the Managing Director of Conference and Exhibition Management Services at the China National Convention Center. Mr. Liu shared his views about the premiere edition of CEMS Beijing International Travel Mart 2017 (BITM). Headquartered in Singapore, CEMS has offices in China, Pakistan and Singapore where it organises some 10 – 15 exhibitions a year. Dubbed by Singapore’s Straits Times as “The Exhibition Man”, Mr Liu had served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE), based in Dallas, USA from 2002 – 2007.

The show included stellar presentations from BOE Technology, a company which displayed their innovative digital photo frame solution and blood pressure monitoring device on the integration of tourism, art & technology. Mr. Kwakye Donkor, Chief Executive Officer – Africa Tourism Partners moderated a panel discussion on The Emerging Africa Tourism Frontiers.

Our Director, Mr. Daksh Sharma conducted a travel tech workshop on “Going Global Instantly – Leveraging on New Media Tools”, where he demonstrated tips and techniques to produce digital content for marketing destinations.

The post Edward Liu, Group Managing Director CEMS talks about BITM 2017 appeared first on TravHQ.

The premiere Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2017 will be held at China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing, China from 16 – 18 November 2017. The three-day event, open to trade visitors on the first two days and to public visitors on the last day, will climax the current ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation 2017.

With a gross area of 10,000 square metres, BITM 2017 will feature over 400 international exhibitors from over 60 countries. The countries of Southeast Asia are expected to form a significant ASEAN Pavilion to highlight the touristic attractions and programmes along the Maritime Silk Route.

In addition, the event is expected to attract some 400 local and international buyers and is projected to attract 10,000 public visitors as well as 6,000 trade visitors from the MICE, OTAs, Travel Agents, Corporates and Trade Associations.

Beijing, the capital of China, is the world’s third most populous city and is ranked second to Shanghai in China’s outbound generating markets for year 2016. The UNTWO has predicted that 200 million Chinese will travel out of the country by 2020, spending US$422 billion.

“A globalized one-stop sourcing platform is vital for stakeholders within the tourism industry to effectively reach out to the Chinese travel market,” says Edward Liu, Group Managing Director of Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS), the organisers.

To accentuate the ASEAN-China Year of Tourism Cooperation, a panel discussion on the first day of the BITM 2017, would feature prominent captains of industry from both ASEAN and China, exploring extended cooperation between the two regions, in sync with the initiatives being formulated under the Maritime Silk Route.

Another forum on the second day would be dedicated to big data and analytics as well as the latest travel technologies that are being implemented across the global tourism industry. There would also be specially curated workshops running concurrently with the exhibition to provide attendees with relevant industry updates.

To generate awareness for the exhibition and forums, CEMS would be running pre-event roadshows in various cities and regions within China. Participating exhibitors would be invited to join the pre-event publicity campaigns to attract buyers prior to the event.

Exhibitors could also look forward to enriched business matchings through one-on-one meeting interaction technology to maximize the efficiency of their pre-scheduled appointments with the preferred Chinese and international buyers.

Cumulatively, CEMS has a track record of 25 successful professional international tourism exhibitions such as BITE, CGITE, XSPRITE, and CITE, with participants from across 80 countries over the last 15 years.

More details about BITE 2017 can be found here.

The post CEMS to inaugurate Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2017 appeared first on TravHQ.