IBTM China, part of IBTM’s global portfolio of meetings, events and industry trade shows, has announced it will hold its first summit specifically tailored to the needs of business travel, finance and procurement managers at its upcoming 2019 event, which will take place at China National Convention Centre in Beijing on Aug. 28-29.
With China now as the global leader of digital economy and the main consumer of technology, the Business Travel Digital Innovation Summit will consider how technological innovation is changing the face of travel management. The summit will bring together around 100 leaders, cost control experts, travel managers, financial directors and purchasing managers to exchange views on business travel compliance, the digital transformation of business travel, best practice, cost control and future trends and changes in business travel.
Forming part of the event’s knowledge program, the summit will include more than 10 sessions with speakers such as the Air China Yeego founder Greece Guo, who has more than 10 years’ experience in the air travel industry; Suhua Dong, director of e-commerce at China Air Service, with 27 years’ experience in corporate travel management; and Tan Haoling, vice president and general manager of CITS American Express.
“Saving cost and improving corporate inefficiency have become issues of concern for Chinese companies today,” Haoling says. “Take China for instance, in which traveling between cities is quicker by high-speed railway than flying. Therefore, we need to know how to deal with international visas in an efficient way, how to manage security and how to help corporate leaders understand global travel cost control.”
Ci Xue, project manager, IBTM China, says: “Travel cost control is the loudest sound we have heard from corporate buyers in the past two years, and as a leading global event for business and incentive travel, we have a responsibility to provide participants with the most reliable and up to date information, as well as industry trends of the future. Our Business Travel Digital Innovation Summit has been designed to help attendees succeed in this ever-changing market. We’d like to thank our partner, Lu Xiang Hui, who has helped us bring this summit to fruition.”
This year’s group of over 300 hosted buyers will include over 20 percent international buyers, with 80 percent from the Asia Pacific region, including second- and third-tier mainland China cities. In terms of buyer make-up, 60 percent will be agency buyers, 30 percent will be corporate buyers and 10 percent will be from associations.
Almost 380 exhibitors are expected to attend the event this year, some of which are first-time attending organizations, including Air Canada, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Sydney Conference and Training Centre. Domestic exhibitors include Beijing Tourism, Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality, Accor Hotels and Jinling Hotels & Resorts.
IBTM China is the number one event for the region’s MICE industry, gathering some 5,000 global meetings industry professionals together for two days full of scheduled business meetings
IBTM, part of Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading showcase for the meetings and events industry (also known as MICE) with a portfolio of six global and regional events providing business solutions on five continents. They include IBTM World, IBTM Arabia, IBTM Africa, IBTM Americas, IBTM China and IBTM Asia Pacific. For more info, visit www.ibtmevents.com.
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organizer, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 22 international events in 13 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa. Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf travel. For more info, visit www.reedtravelexhibitions.com.
