Berlin/ Shanghai – On 5 March 2019, one day before ITB Berlin, the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show, more than 20 senior travel representatives from China will be making initial contacts and be able to collect useful information about the European tourism industry. The delegation, whose trip is being organised by ITB China, the largest B2B exclusive travel trade show in China – which takes place from 15-17 May in Shanghai – will visit a selected list of successful tourism companies at their Berlin offices.
On the tour, the Chinese delegation will visit a number of companies including GIATA, a travel tech company which owns the world’s largest hotel mapping database and over 21,000 clients in 72 countries, Blacklane, a professional shuttle service, HomeToGo, a search engine for holiday homes, and bookingkit, an online ticketing and booking management solution for activity-, tours-, events and museums providers.
The delegation is composed of companies reflecting the full range of the Chinese travel industry with representatives from major players such as Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, Tujia, China’s largest online vacation rental site, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts,Tongcheng Tourism Group which is among China’s five largest tourism groups, Wuzhen Tourism Co., Ltd., Haoqiao, Lushu, Didatravel, PKFARE, flightroutes24.com, iGola and more. Visiting the offices will allow the Chinese delegation to deep dive into each company’s unique products and company culture while networking and exchanging know-how in a relaxed atmosphere.The delegation will be accompanied by David Axiotis, general manager of ITB China, Michael Buller, chairman of the VIR and Charlie Li, CEO of TravelDaily China.
As part of their program, at ITB Berlin 2019 the Chinese delegation will be invited to the opening ceremony of the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show. It will also attend the ITB Chinese Night, which this year is already taking place for the fourth time. The China-focused networking event is an opportunity for some 300 travel industry representatives to exchange views on the latest developments in the Chinese travel market. The program of events being held for the Chinese visitors will conclude with an invitation to the exclusive VIP dinner for Chinese and German travel industry representatives, which ITB China is co-organising with the VIR.
VIR chairman Michael Buller: “The delegation’s visit gives companies from Berlin an opportunity to meet high-ranking representatives from the Chinese travel industry and exchange information with them. We are confident this will further strengthen the good relations which will be of lasting benefit to both sides.“
In 2018 a delegation of German travel representatives visited Shanghai to get to know Chinese travel industry companies and gain valuable insights into the market. This year, for the second time, VIR will travel to Shanghai with a German delegation to attend ITB China 2019 and gain an insight into how Chinese travel companies work. With the help of VIR, German tourism companies are also due to make a joint appearance at ITB China this year. The organizers are setting up a combined stand for German tourism companies aiming to present themselves and their products and services.