ITB China and the China Tourism Association extended their strategic partnerships: David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China and Rungang Zhang, Secretary General & Vice President China Tourism Association, signed a corresponding partnership agreement in the beginning of November 2017.

ITB China, taking place 16 – 18 May in Shanghai, provides exhibitors and trade visitors with an important platform that focuses on the Chinese market. The China Tourism Association, founded in 1986, is the largest industry association for China’s travel and tourism industry with its 4,000 members covering the major travel verticals including hotels, destinations, OTAs, TMCs,tour operators, sharing accommodations, hostels, travel media, education institutions, travel research agencies & leisure travel. CTA’s involvement in ITB China will include numerous marketing and promotional activities.

Rungang Zhang, Secretary General & Vice President CTA, China Tourism Association: “CTA is the biggest travel and tourism industry association of the world’s second largest economy and we are very delighted to again work with ITB China, in order to boost industry cooperation and communication between China and the rest of the world. With ITB’s global vision, its high-class exhibitors and high-standard exhibition experience, travel companies in China will have access to diversified travel products and will be able to provide superb travel experiences for Chinese travelers.”

David Axiotis, General Manager ITB China said: “We are proud and excited to continue partnering with China Tourism Association. CTA’s strong positioning in the Chinese travel industry and its highly diversified and broad members’ structure will represent a huge asset to all ITB China attendees who will benefit from getting key insights into and connections with the Chinese travel industry through this strategic partnership.”

ITB China is an international offshoot of one of Messe Berlin’s most successful trade fairs, and will take place annually focussing on the Chinese travel industry. Its co-organiser is TravelDaily China, a leading online news portal and organiser of travel industry conferences in Asia’s largest country

About ITB Berlin and ITB Asia

First launched 51 years ago, ITB Berlin is recognised as the most successful trade show for the global travel industry. Some 10,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries regularly attend this event. Every year in October for the last nine years Messe Berlin has successfully organised ITB Asia in Singapore. Boasting 760 exhibitors from 73 countries, ITB Asia in Singapore has established itself as one of the leading travel trade shows in Asia. As the second show in Asia, ITB China will take place in Shanghai, one of the leading industrial cities in the People’s Republic of China, and with a population of around 23 million one of world’s largest cities. In contrast to ITB Asia, which reflects tourism in Asia as a whole, ITB China focuses entirely on the Chinese travel market.

About ITB China and the ITB China Conference

ITB China 2018 will take place from Wednesday to Friday, 16 to 18 May, at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre in hall 1. ITB China is a three-day business to business travel trade fair that focuses exclusively on the Chinese travel industry. The ITB China Conference will take place parallel with the show and is co-organised by the leading conference organiser TravelDaily (www.traveldaily.cn).

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The 50th edition of ITB Berlin saw travel technology take it up a notch. Amongst other things that dazzled the trade show, robot humanoids greeted the visitors with a much human-like accord. At the entrance to Berlin’s exhibition hall where thousands of travel industry professionals had gathered for the trade show, ChihiraKanae, the robot, greeted visitors—in English, German, Chinese and Japanese.

Robots are making an entry into the hospitality industry that has until now always prided itself on delivering a warm and personable touch. ChihiraKanae was dressed in a blue jacket and a neck scarf  at the ITB Berlin. Her first European welcome was immensely anticipated as a great move in the travel industry. There she sought employment for herself and her kind alike. Three months ago, her “sister” began working as a meet-and-greeter in a Tokyo shopping centre. Their creator, Toshiba, also foresees a great future ahead for them in tourism.

Oxford University’s Carl Benedikt Frey, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment at the Oxford Martin School believes that robots do have a big future in the industry. He quoted

“In tourism, quite a few jobs remain non-automatable, like concierges or chefs. But a wide range of jobs is very much sustainable to automation”

He suggested that robots could diversify technology usage in travel space as it would reduce dependency on manual labour. It would also further encourage cost cutting. The key is that they should be allowed to do tasks that require basic communication.

The industry has seen organisations like Savioke who are creating this artificial intelligence to assist the hospitality sector. The trend started picking up when 2015 saw Henn na Hotel, Japan run a pilot on using these humanoids as receptionists. Connect here to find the entire story.

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ITB Berlin is the leading travel trade show and a foremost Business platform for global tourist officers. It is a unique B2B platform for cities, regions, tour operators, online booking portals and hotels, and many other service providers from over 180 countries who present their products and services. The 5-day(9th -13th March) trade show aimed to enrich the travel experience of the participants by giving them an opportunity to interact with the marketers and receive valuable first-hand knowledge through interactions with international professionals. The avid travellers got a unique chance to explore the different segments of the travel market in just a few hours.

In amongst the campaigns that wrestled for the prestigious ‘Golden City Gate Award’, Kerala Tourism’s ‘New World’ Campaign on responsible tourism bagged it home. Kerala Tourism had also won earlier the ‘Ulysses’ Prize of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for its contribution as a global leader to sustainable tourism. The ‘New Worlds’ campaign was launched internationally by UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai at the World Travel Mart in London. The award was presented by Wolfgang Jo Huschert, President, and Jury of the Golden City Gate Award to Abraham George, President, Kerala Travel Mart.

The destination has been actively promoting tourism in the region through different campaigns. Last year they came up with initiatives like International Photography Contest and Kerala Bid Wars. They also introduced the third edition of ‘Kerala Blog Express’, their annual blogger engagement initiative to boost their reach.

Tourism policies in Kerala have evolved over the lines of the exquisiteness of the destination. They have made a great positive impact on a greater population, thereby creating awareness regarding the natural treasures of the place and cultural heritage of the state. ‘New Worlds’ portrays the importance of such Responsible Tourism initiatives that have become the heart of the campaign. The film shows tourists visiting local communities, sharing home-made meals, and watching and engaging in cultural performances, demonstrating the vision that when the world comes to Kerala, it opens up. The theme of the campaign puts it succinctly: ‘When the World comes to Kerala, New Worlds Open up’.

You can read more about their previous campaigns here.

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The world’s leading travel trade show – ITB Berlin – is a unique B2B platform for cities, regions, tour operators, online booking portals and hotels, and many other service providers from over 180 countries present their products and services. This event will take place from 9^th March to 13^th March next year.

With the brand’s core value of ‘Experience and Experts’, ITB Berlin seeks to enrich the travel experience of the participants by giving them an opportunity to interact with the marketers and receive valuable first-hand knowledge through face-to-face interactions with international professionals. The marketers will obtain relevant information about important travel topics and the latest trends, establish business contacts and close global deals. The general public that can be avid travellers will get a unique chance to explore the different segments of the travel market in just a few hours.

Associated with this event, ITB Academy with Tourismuszukunft, the Institute for e-Tourism is providing tourism professionals with a multi-session, free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on ‘Social Media in Tourism’. This online course in English will offer fundamental information about the Internet and social media while giving an overview of the different platforms and important tips about proper social media conduct. It’ll be in the form of interesting lecture videos, informative study documents and inspiring best practice examples.

The online course on ‘Social Media in Tourism’ is available till 1^st March next year. There are 8 modules like Social Media Fundamentals, Social Commerce, Social Media Law and Storytelling. The interested participants can complete each module at their own pace.

The ‘Social Media in Tourism’ online course provides up-to-date information on the social media with a focus on the travel industry. Social media has a very important role to play at all stages of travel. Travellers get inspired to travel on social media and after travelling, inspire others to travel by sharing their experiences. According to a surveys by sources, 52% of the Facebook users admitted that photos posted by their friends helped them formulate their travel plans and 51% of the people said that Twitter content influenced consideration of a travel brand. This proves that social media plays an important role in influencing the travel market.

Participants do not need any preliminary knowledge as the modules build one upon other. To receive the certificate, participants need to pass progress test after each module as well as a final examination.

For more details about this online course, click here.

To register for this ‘Social Media in Tourism’, please go through this webpage.

You can also check out our guides for Instagram and Twitter with inputs from expert marketers if you need some quick tips on how to use social media for your travel brand.

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