From 27 to 29 May, China’s travel think tank will run concurrently with ITB China, the B2B exclusive travel trade show focusing on the Chinese travel market. Both events will be held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center.
ITB China announces first details of this year’s ITB China Conference 2024. The three-day B2B exclusive event will feature a variety of topics and forum sessions customized to address industry hotspots within the Chinese travel landscape, aimed at providing valuable insights to businesses operating in this space. Conference themes encompassing “China Outbound Travel”, “MICE”, “Business Travel”, “Travel Technology”, and new this year, “China Inbound Travel”, will be presented and discussed through numerous keynote speeches, industry dialogues, executive interviews, and panel discussions at this year’s ITB China Conference. With two distinct stages, the “Conference Room” and the “Presentation Hub”, attendees can anticipate insights and experience sharing from key travel professionals and experts from around the globe and across China.
Highlights of the conference also include insights into China outbound travel data provided by Trip.com, as well as discussions on “Boosting outbound travel through industry up- and downstream collaboration”, “Exchanges on leveraging new media to attract young travelers” and an exploration into “Adventure travel and sustainable development”.
As a driving force behind the travel industry, “Travel Technology” plays a crucial role in the global travel industry, improving efficiency, convenience and customization for travelers. Topics such as “How can new technologies enhance personalized travel experiences?” and “How online payments help travel platforms boost order conversions?” provide a deeper understanding of how technology facilitates seamless booking processes, provides interactive experiences, enables real-time information access, and supports sustainable practices.
Strong partnerships with prominent organizations including the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), the China Business Event Industry Committee (CBEIC), and the Purchasing and Supply Chain Coalition will enrich sessions on “Business Travel” and “MICE”. Together with CBEIC, a panel discussion will delve into the overseas expansion strategy and development of Chinese associations from a global perspective. And Purchasing and Supply Chain Coalition will host a session on the topic: “Enterprise Procurement Strategies for Corporate Travel, Conferences, and Incentive Travel”, while SITE will facilitate a roundtable discussing on the current status and future development of the global and Asian MICE tourism industry.
Commenting on the partnership, Nitin Sachdeva, President-elect of SITE Global, stated: “The global MICE industry has experienced rapid development and transformation, with a continuously expanding market size, but faced also many challenges. We now look forward to persistent innovation in the industry, improving service quality, and achieving sustainable development in the future. At the same time, we are excited about the deep cooperation with ITB China to jointly promote the progress and prosperity of the global MICE industry.”
For the very first time, the conference program features sessions on “China Inbound Travel”, addressing recent visa policy changes and their impact on the inbound travel recovery. Dave Goodger, Managing Director EMEA, of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company, will kick-off with a keynote under the heading “Opportunities for Chinese Inbound Growth to Keep Pace with Outbound and Domestic”. The keynote will cover the resurgence of tourism in post-pandemic China, covering inbound growth, international projections, key markets and risks, and provide an outlook on domestic and outbound tourism, including key city destinations. “Oxford Economics is looking forward to attending ITB China and sharing insights on the outlook for inbound tourism to China. We have always valued our participation at ITB events, including the shows in Singapore and Berlin, as vital opportunities to connect with industry stakeholders and network with new potential partners. We are eagerly anticipating more of this at ITB China as we will discuss the outlook for travel to, from and within China, including trends in key source markets and competitor destinations”, said Dave Goodger.
The recent easing of visa policies has unquestionably provided a much-needed boost to the inbound travel market in China. Further talks and panel discussions on this pressing topic include: “Visa-free Policy Opens Opportunities and Challenges for Inbound Travel Recovery”, and “Discussion on China’s Major Source Markets for Inbound Travel”, with in-depth analyses of the changes in Chinese travelers’ spending habits and destination choices.