China International Travel Mart – 2016 set to open in Shanghai

TravelBizNews Correspondent —

Shanghai Nov. 7 : Shanghai, a financial center and popular tourist destination in China, is set to hold the largest professional travel mart of Asia – China International Travel Mart (CITM) with an aim to promote tourism.

China International Travel Mart 2016 (CITM) , jointly organized by China National Tourism Administration, Civil Aviation Administration of China and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, is to be held in Shanghai New International Expo Center from 11 to 13 November, 2016.

The largest tourism expo CITM is held alternately in Shanghai and Kunming every year.

Thousands of participants representing different sectors of the travel industry, national and international tourism organizations, travel agencies, hotels, and airlines will participate in the three day tourism jamboree.

More than 1,200 exhibitors and buyers from 105 countries and regions attended the China International Travel Mart 2015 held in Kunming last year. A total of 3,250 agreements were signed between exhibitors, buyers and visitors.

Exhibitors of more than 106 countries and regions are in final preparation to introduce their tourism products through their attractive booths in Shanghai New International Expo Center.

Nearly 2,500 domestic and overseas exhibition booths are set up in the Mart venue covering 57,500 sq m  area. More than 80,000 people are expected to visit CITM – 2016 according to CITM Secretariat.

Shanghai is a famous historical and cultural city of China combining oriental culture with western culture besides an economic, trade, financial and shipping center of modern China.

Shanghai is considered a popular venue of MICE ( Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism. Shanghai hosted a total of 851 exhibition projects including 292 international exhibitions by the end of 2015.

Shanghai welcomed more than 8 million inbound tourists with the foreign exchange revenue of over US$ 5.96 billion and 270 million domestic tourists with domestic tourism revenue of RMB 300.5 billion in 2015.

The number of China’s outbound tourists increased almost ten fold from 2001 to 2015, reaching 128 million in 2015 according to China Tourism Academy report.

Shanghai has introduced 144-hour visa-free transit policy to allow citizens from 51 countries to get into China through entry ports .

Nov. 7, 2016