Chengdu International Tourism Expo 2018 (CITE 2018)- the leading travel show in Chengdu for professionals in the tourism industry, strides into its 6^thyear by welcoming its inaugural partner, the European Tourism Association (ETOA) as one of the main exhibitors.  Participating in CITE 2018 is part of ETOA’s initiatives during EU-China Tourism Year to increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

One of the highlights of the exhibition will be the launch of “The Lure of Romantic Europe for Chinese Visitors” by ETOA to woo China’s booming outbound tourism marketing. In less than two decades, China has taken the lead to become the world’s most powerful outbound market with a staggering 122 million per annum! To further cement the importance of attracting Chinese tourists to Europe’s tourism sector, ETOA has brought along its huge contingent of global tourism suppliers to form strategic partnerships with China’s travel agencies to offer enchanting romantic experiences for the Chinese travellers.

Enthusiastic trade visitors can look forward to a choke-full of engaging activities spread over 3 days. Held over 29 November till 1 December at the Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center in Chengdu, boasting a gross area of 8,000 square metres, CITE 2018 will feature some 500 local and international exhibitors from over 30 countries.

In addition, the event is expected to draw 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. CITE 2018 will also host a business networking luncheon for both the exhibitors and the buyers. This new initiative of the show will include luncheons on the first two days of the event. The first two days of CITE 2018 would be for trade only (pre-scheduled B2B meetings), whilst the third day would be open to the public which allows exhibitors to reach out directly to the consumers to promote their destinations and products. One of the main benefits for all exhibitors would be the opportunity to meet with at least 20 – 30 qualified Chinese travel operators on a face-to-face basis as well as meeting with some 200 hosted buyers over two networking luncheons.

The European Spas Association (ESPA) will also be launching a seminar, “Why should Chinese travellers go to European Spas?” on Day 2, 30 November, to focus on restoring peace to the psyche by opting for romantic and health-curing travel destinations in Europe.

Key topics for the seminar are as follows:

• “Why European SPAs?

An overview of a unique, romantic and health-curing travel destination” presented by Csilla Mezosi, Secretary General of ESPA

• SPA Heritage in Europe
• How to pitch European SPAs to Chinese consumers

CITE 2018 is jointly organised by Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte Ltd (Singapore) and CEMS (Beijing) Conference & Exhibition Co., Ltd (China) and supported by Chengdu Municipal of Exposition, Chengdu Municipal Tourism Administration and Tourism Development Commission of Sichuan Province, China.

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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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