IT&CM China and CTW China 2024 kicked off this afternoon in Shanghai, with more than 250 exhibitors, over 400 buyers, and 30 media representatives in attendance.
This is the 16th edition of both events, and the first in-person gathering for the annual series since the pandemic. IT&CM China and CTW China were held virtually in 2020 and 2021, and in a hybrid format in 2023.
Day one featured a keynote presentation led by Sun Weijia, special researcher of Counsellors’ Office of the State Council, who discussed the importance of government influence on the growth of meeting destinations.
Other guest speakers for the day included Hong Kong Tourism Board Beijing Office’s Zhu Jun, SITE China Chapter’s Lisa Xu, First Incentive Travel’s Joost de Meyer, and Beijing Zhongrunhua Petrochemical’s Yu Dandan.
Tomorrow and for the next two days, the exhibition component will commence with one-on-one business meetings.
Exhibitors hail from destinations such as Abu Dhabi, New Zealand and Sri Lanka as well as from Chinese territories.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board dominates in terms of pavilion size, at 222m2, followed by the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (90m2), Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (84m2), and Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports of Hainan Province (66m2).
In terms of buyer presence, representation from China is the strongest, at 81 per cent of total attendance. India, Singapore, and Indonesia buyers form the majority among international attendance.
