CIBTM,
organized by Reed Travel Exhibitions and
held in Beijing last week, enhanced its position as the only domestic
and international event for the MICE industry in China welcoming
the largest participation from exhibitors and a surge in the quality
of regional Hosted Buyers.
“CIBTM
part of China Meetings Week, has grown into the most mature
meetings, incentive and events event in Asia, and as the only
national one (supported by China National Tourism Administration)
for the MICE industry in 2012, I am confident it will continue to
expand in the future,” said Mr Sun Weijia, Vice Chairman of Beijing
Municipal Commission of Tourism Development during a speech
he made at the opening conference. Mr Sun outlined how the value for
the industry from Chinese buyers alone could top 7.8billion RMB.
CIBTM
2012 focused this year on encouraging more domestic Hosted Buyers to
attend, all of whom had to achieve the strict qualification process
before entering the programme.
Reed Travel Exhibitions embarked on a year round tour
of 2nd and 3rd tier cities to explain the MICE sector and find new
association and corporate buyers. More than 500 media attended these
events further helping to promote the sector, whilst urging those who
work professionally as planners and buyers to be part
of China Meetings Week. As a result, this year’s event
welcomed over 413 Hosted Buyers, of which 147
represented associations and
corporates which is an increase of 15% on 2011.
The
statistics from the show included increases in pre-scheduled
appointments to 8,459 up 15% on last year, the net space of the event
was up 20%, total exhibitors up 6% to 398 with an 18% increase in the
number of exhibitors fromChina, and Hosted Buyers came from 18
countries - up 36% with the largest increase coming from China.
Some 5000 industry professionals (subject to an independent post-show
audit by BPA) were expected to attend over the 3 days of the event.
Barbara
Steuri-Albrecht, Director for the Switzerland Convention &
Incentive Bureau said: “We have had a great show, and the Chinese
buyers are very interested in doing
business. We are getting more and more incentive groups
from the pharma, automotive, insurance and finance sectors.
We held a dinner in Beijing with selected Hosted Buyers and had an
excellent attendance. We will certainly be back at CIBTM in 2013”.
This
year’s Professional
Education programme featured a number of
diverse speakers through partnerships with some of the world’s
leading industry associations many of whom were
in China for the first time. For example ACTE
(Association
of Corporate Travel Executives) provided topics on
tailored for corporate and business
travel, a sector that was new to the show this year and
supported the business travel element of the MICE sector.
There
was also a strong focus on local and regional industry experts in the
education programme. One particular session attracted a full
auditorium and featured academic perspectives of the China meetings
industry with an insight from a number of University Professors on
the future growth and aspirations of the MICE industry.
CIBTM
2013 takes place on the 2nd – 4th September 2013.
