30 May 2018, Chengdu – Some 100 European tour operators, selected by the European Commission, would be taking part in the upcoming 6^th Chengdu International Tourism Expo (CITE) 2018 for the first time. CITE 2018, which takes place in Chengdu from 29 November to 1 December, is also an official partner event of the current EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY).

Organised by the Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS), the 6^th edition of the CITE series is supported by the Tourism Development Commission of Sichuan Province; the Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration; the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and the Sichuan Tourism Association.

The press conference being held at the Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel today, was graced by some X number of local government officials and special invited guests,  including Mr Chai Yan Zhu, the Executive Vice-President and Secretary-General of Sichuan Tourism Association; Mr Yin Hai Sheng, Assistant Secretary-General of Sichuan Tourism Association; Ms Wu Ning, Deputy Director, Promotions, Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration; Mr Liu Jun, Deputy Director of Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition; and Mr Kenneth Teo, Regional Director (est China) of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.

Said Mr Chai: “The Sichuan Tourism Association is glad to partner CITE again to bring the international and local tourism players together, and to provide the professional platform for businesses who are looking to expand into the Chinese market.”

Mr Edward Liu, Group Managing Director of CEMS, added: “In 2017, Chengdu surpassed Guangzhou and Shenzhen to become the third outbound tourism market in China. With 2018 being the EU-China Tourism Year, we are honoured that the European Commission and the European Tourism Association have chosen CITE 2018 as an official partner event. I am confident that this collaboration will draw a good representation of the European Union destinations into the show.”

The European Commission will bring 100 European Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the tourism and leisure sector. The focus of the events in Chengdu will be the draw of Romantic Tourism in Europe for the Chinese market. Head of the consortium delivering the programme, ETOA’s CEO Tom Jenkins said: “Chinese romantic travel is a very important niche in which Europe must compete.”

Attendees of this afternoon’s press conference were presented with event highlights that exhibitors, hosted buyers and trade visitors can look forward to in the exhibition. Apart from a significant presence of European and Canadian exhibitors in view of the EU-China and Canada-China Tourism Year, there will also be an offering of diverse products from the Asian exhibitors.

An important aspect of a tourism travel and trade exhibition is the hosted buyers programme. Sourced by a team of dedicated staff, some 400 pre-qualified top buyers from Chengdu, the Western region, the Chongqing municipality as well as other cities will be accepted to attend CITE 2018.

Newly added to the exhibition is the two days of business networking lunches for invited exhibitors to mingle with the hosted buyers and selected media. “This allows more interactions outside of the pre-scheduled B2B sessions”, said Mr Liu.

Chengdu is the provisional capital of Sichuan. The city has an urban population of over 10 million people and the province has a population of over 81 million people. It is the fifth largest urban centre in Asia and so one of the most important economic centres in the world.

The organiser, CEMS has a track record of 29 successful editions of professional international tourism exhibitions such as BITE, BITM, CGITE, XSRITE, and CITE, with participants from across 80 countries over the last 15 years.

For more information on the 6^th Chengdu International Tourism Expo (CITE) 2018, please visit www.CITEChina.asia.

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Some 35 senior officials of the African Union member embassies in Beijing were presented with details of the upcoming 2^nd Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2018 at a dinner reception hosted by the organisers, Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS) at the Hilton Hotel Beijing on Wednesday, 18 April 2018.

Mr Victor Sikonina, the Ambassador of Madagascar and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Beijing, was the Guest-Of-Honour, along with the Ambassadors of Benin, Cameroon, Mauritius and Namibia. More than 20 other African countries, including Rwanda, the current Chairman of the African Union, were represented by their Charge d’Affaires, Minister and Premier Counsellors and First Secretaries as well as officials of their respective National Tourist Organisations.

Mr Edward Liu, Group Managing Director of CEMS and Honorary Consul General of Cote d’Ivoire in Singapore, explained that the main focus of BITM 2018 would be on the African countries as many of their Heads of States and Governments are expected to be attending the upcoming Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) being hosted by the Chinese Government in the first week of September.

Mr Liu is confident that more than 10 African countries would be taking part in BITM 2018, taking up some 300 – 500 square metres of exhibit space. At the dinner reception, the Moroccan Government Tourist Office announced that it would be a Partner Country for BITM 2018. Other National Tourism Organisations such as Rwanda, Sudan, and Tanzania have also expressed their interest in participation.

According to Mr. Liu, “The 2^nd African Dialogue will be back for a second edition as it was well received last year.” The inaugural African Dialogue held last year featured five panelists from different African Embassies, and National Tourist Organisations in Beijing. They discussed the relevance of ‘The Emerging African Tourism Frontiers’.

The embassies were the Republic of Botswana; the Republic of Ghana; Moroccan Government Tourist Office; the Republic of Tanzania, and the Sudan Ministry of Tourism, Antiquities and Wildlife. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr Kwakye Donkor, Chief Executive – African Tourism Partners.

CEMS Welcome African Union Dinner.  Mr. Edward Liu presenting during the dinner.

The 2^nd Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2018 will be held at the China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) from 5 to 7 September 2018. With a gross area of 4,400 square metres, BITM 2018 will feature over 200 international exhibitors from over 25 countries. In addition, BITM 2018 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. Exhibitors could also look forward to customised business matchings through one-on-one meeting interaction technology to maximise the efficiency of their pre-scheduled appointments with the preferred local buyers. Therefore, exhibitors and buyers can expect to make fruitful discussions and collaborations in these meetings.

For the record, CEMS had curated the Beijing International Travel Expo (BITE) series in Beijing, China in 2004 and had organised the event until 2016. Cumulatively, CEMS has a track record of 29 successful professional international tourism exhibitions such as BITE, CGITE, XSRITE, and CITE, with participants from across 80 countries over the last 15 years.

For more information on the 2^nd Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM), please visit www.BITMChina.com. 

About CEMS

Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte Ltd (CEMS), a professional organiser for more than 40 years, ensures that its event will elevate the quality of business opportunities for all participants and visitors in the tourism industry. As the preferred China outbound travel platform, CEMS Tourism Series is set to take you to two of the top outbound generating markets within China for 2018 – Beijing and Chengdu. For more information, please visit www.cems.com.sg.

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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.

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