CIBTM, China’s largest meetings, incentives and business travel exhibition, held September 12-14, 2012 at the China National Convention Centre (CNCC), Beijing, has received unprecedented regional and international exhibitor bookings and Hosted Buyer registrations, driven by regional and overseas companies wanting to do business with each other.
Supported by the findings of the 2011 CIBTM Industry Research Report, growth is not only for the meetings market within China, but also for the volume of meetings and events inbound to China from international planners as well as the growth predicted for outbound business tourism from the region.
“Last year’s analysis showed that 74 percent of buyer respondents and 52 percent of suppliers forecasted an increase in the volume of events that they would organize and supply to over the next twelve months,” said Jeffrey Xu, Reed Travel Exhibitions, CIBTM project manager. “This clearly demonstrates the high demand for businesses who can cater for China, Asia and the rest of the world, which explains the unprecedented request for space from exhibitors.”
Over 95 percent of the show floor is now booked by several new exhibitors, along with a long list of returning companies who have signed up to continue leveraging the exposure and business leads that the show generates for both regional and international meetings industry suppliers.
“Exhibitors from 2011 have returned once again this year as a direct result of the return on investment they achieved from their participation in last year’s show,” said Xu. “As part of our on-going development and progression, we continually conduct research around inbound and outbound business from the regions where each of our shows are held. We are looking forward to this year’s update of the IBTM Global research at the show as it will provide us with an insight of what to expect in the industry sector for 2013.”
CIBTM has also received a higher volume of Hosted Buyer applications, 320 to date (up 33 percent from this time last year) nearly 80 percent of the number expected at the show. Regional Hosted Buyers confirmed to attend are from cities including Shenzen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao and international Hosted Buyers are traveling from cities including Hong Kong, Moscow, Madrid, London and New York.
“We are delighted to be participating in CIBTM once again,” said Mercedes García, marketing manager at Barcelona’s Tourism Convention Bureau. “Last year’s show delivered for us on all fronts and we achieved a great deal of business leads following our participation. CIBTM continually delivers a great quality audience of Hosted Buyers and we are looking forward to exhibiting again this year.”
