(From left) European Travel Commission’s Eduardo Santander and ITB China’s David Axiotis
ITB China’s first partner destination for its inaugural tradeshow this year will be Europe when the three-day B2B travel trade fair takes place from May 10-12, 2017 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Conference Center.
An agreement was signed between David Axiotis, general manager of ITB China, and Eduardo Santander, executive director at European Travel Commission, on January 31, 2017.
Axiotis said: “China is the driving force for growth in outbound trips and Europe as a continent remains a dream destination for many Chinese tourists. Europe, as a partner destination, will help to better understand the needs of Chinese visitors within the European Tourism Community, especially in view of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year.”
Santander added: “European destinations acknowledge the need to remain competitive in China. It is only through deeper cooperation with the Chinese authorities and the support and commitment of the European tourism sector to engage in joint public-private marketing initiatives, like this partnership, that Europe will succeed in fostering sustainable tourism growth from China.”
A dedicated Europe Pavilion at ITB China will showcase European tourism products and destinations such as Czech Republic, Belgium, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Serbia. The show will also feature individual presences from other major European destinations such as Portugal, Finland, Greece and Austria.
The European presence on the show floor is flanked by The World Bridge Tourism project (WBT), which is co-located with ITB China 2017. The WBT is a project jointly organised by the European Travel Commission and the European Tour Operators Association to match 150 tourism suppliers across Europe with the corresponding number of Chinese travel buyers.
The event is also supported by an extensive programme of research and webinars aimed at increasing the understanding of the needs of Chinese visitors within the European tourism community.
