ETC CONFIRMED AS CO-HOST OF ITB CHINA INDUSTRY MEET-UP
The European Travel Commission and ITB China have formalised an agreement for the co-hosting of all ITB China Industry Meet-up events in 2020.
On Monday, 7 September, Eduardo Santander, Executive Director of the European Travel Commission (pictured above) and David Axiotis, General Manager of Messe Berlin Exhibitions (Shanghai), organisers of ITB China, signed the agreement.
The kick-off Industry Meet-up will be held in Shenzhen, at the JW Marriott, on 24 September 2020 with all sponsor spaces sold out. The event expects senior attendees from the leading travel agencies of south China and high-ranking experts from the industry to participate. Featured content workshops will look at the main aspects of “Travel Marketing Digitalization”, “The Transformation of Travel Agencies”, “Opportunities in the Current Market” and more.
“We’re proud to team up again with ITB China and co-host the newly launched ITB China Industry Meet-up events. The progressive recovery of Chinese domestic travel and revival of consumer confidence shows that China will be one of the first markets to see a recovery in international outbound travel. It’s essential to relaunch close cooperation with Chinese partners and stakeholders to ensure speedy recovery as soon as the situation allows. We believe that the ITB China Industry Meet-up will be the perfect platform for ETC and its Members to coordinate this dialogue and strengthen existing and develop new B2B relationships,” said Santander.
As the organisation responsible for the promotion of Europe as a tourist destination, ETC is leading a broad range of European destination representatives to attend the Industry Meet-up events. Confirmed European sponsors include VisitMalta, German National Tourist Board, VisitFinland, Turismo de Portugal and Atout France. Switzerland Tourism will be especially highlighted with representatives of around ten of its national partners taking part, such as Basel Tourism, Valais Matterhorn Region, Lake Lucerne Region, Lake Geneva Region and many more joining different stations of the Industry Meet-up.
“China has always been an important source market for Switzerland. We’ve established many relations in China and are looking forward to meeting more potential partners during the ITB China Industry Meet-up events. We believe these events will help us gain deeper insights into the current Chinese market,” said Grace Gao, Deputy Director China, Switzerland Tourism.
Confirmed sponsors from around the world attending different stations of the Industry Meet-up include Japan National Tourism Organisation, Tourism New Zealand, VariFlight, Oceanpayment. World-class Hospitality Groups such as Marriott International, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Tokyu Hotels, RIU Hotels & Resorts and carriers such as the Lufthansa Group complete the sponsor list.
Zhang Jun, General Manager of Xinjingjie, an established brand of Shenzhen CITS (China International Travel Service), and leading travel company in South China, is confirmed to deliver an opening keynote at the Shenzhen event: “As China’s domestic travel market is picking up, for industry professionals, the upcoming ITB China Industry MeetUp events will be a valuable gathering of insiders that fits the current situation and strives to explore industry trends and opportunities, and also to prepare for the future recovery of the outbound travel market. I look forward to sharing my experience, insights and prospect with industry peers at the event in Shenzhen.”