China International Travel Mart-2012 opens in Shanghai
Travel BizNews —————-
Shanghai, Nov. 14: Asia’s largest professional travel mart – China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2012 opened in Shanghai International Conference Center today.
The CITM held once a year has become the largest and most influential travel marts in Asia, serving as a crucial platform to showcase tourism resources and products, promote international exchanges and cooperation in tourism and facilitate the overall development of tourism.
Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, inaugurating the CITM -2012, extended his gratitude to guests from around the world for their support to Shanghai’s tourism development.
“This year’s event has been unprecedented in terms of scale, content and significance, with the participation of over 2000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries and regions and over 1200 overseas tour operators as potential buyers,” vice chairman of CITM Zhu Shanzhong said.
As the biggest power house of change, Shanghai is a modern city with profound historical urban cultural foundation. Shanghai, which attracted 73.08 million visitors during World Expo in 2010, is striving to become a leading tourism city in the world.
CITM-2012 is jointly sponsored by China National Tourism administration (CNTA), Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.
Delegations from the travel industry will take part in trade negotiations and professional forums and will have the chance to showcase their products to visiting audiences during the four day travel mart in Shanghai.
Participants in China International Travel Mart (CITM) represent all sectors of the travel industry including international and domestic tourist organizations, travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, airlines and travel companies.
According to CITM secretariat, all the leading travel agencies in China handling international travels are attending CITM. Buyers will have direct contacts with suppliers and have easy access to information about tourist products and resources in China.
China has declared tourism to be a strategic pillar of economic growth, a key consumption engine in its 12th 5-year plan and an integral part of its strengthening international trade and development collaboration.
China is the third most visited country in the world. The number of overseas tourists was nearly 57 million in 2011.
International organizations have said that China’ travel industry will be the largest domestic, inbound, and outbound market in the world within five years.The Chinese have emerged as the third-biggest spenders in outbound tourism worldwide.
The CITM 2012 will be held in Shanghai New International Expo Center from November 15 to 18.
