China International Travel Mart 2020 (CITM2020), jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, Civil Aviation Administration of China and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, kicked off in Shanghai on November 16. In the morning Vice Mayor of Shanghai Mr. Chen Tong participated in the pavilion tour along with guests from home and abroad.
With 45,000 sqm’s area and 1,517 standard booths, CITM2020 features around 1,500 exhibitors from about 50 countries and regions as well as 31 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The Guests of Honor this year include Myanmar, Malaysia and Brunei. CITM2020 consists of three areas, one for Chinese regions, provinces and cities to showcase their cultural and tourism specialities, one for Chinese cultural and tourism companies to connect with visitors and customers, and one for international exhibitors, as well as the exhibitions of cultural creativity. The three-day event will introduce to visitors the latest achievements of Chinese and global cultural and tourism sectors, promote products and brands from both home and abroad, and offer business networking opportunities. Moreover, sideline events such as the promotion event of China Tourism Promotion Alliance, the 1st Health Tourism Development Congress, the China-Afro-Asia Tourism and Aviation Forum, the Seminar on Cultural and Tourism Integration in the Yangtze River Delta and the Release of the Report on the Cultural Competitiveness of Cities in the Yangtze River Delta 2020 and the Report on the Leisure Indices of Cities in the Yangtze River Delta 2020 will also be rolled out.
Founded in 1998, CITM has grown into one of the largest and most visible travel expos in the Asia-Pacific region. This year’s event will help inject vitality into the post-pandemic inbound tourism market of China, promote international cultural and tourism exchange and cooperation, and further enhance the image of Chinese destinations.
CITM2020 features strong linkages of culture and tourism. Alongside exhibitors from business sectors, Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism also actively participates in this expo by opening several booths to celebrate China’s cultural and tourism collaboration with global partners, including the “Happy Chinese New Year”, “Culture City of East Asia” and “ASEAN” booths by its Bureau for International Exchanges and Cooperation, the “Key Projects of Belt and Road Cultural and Tourism Cooperation” booth by its Cultural and Tourism Industries Department and the “Cultural and Creative Excellence” booth by its Resource Exploitation Department. Prominent cultural institutions such as the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, the National Library of China, and the National Art Museum of China also set up their own booths at CITM2020, offering visitors amazing experiences of tradition and modernity through creative products and showcases that testify the role of culture as a vital driver of tourism.
An important new feature of CITM2020 is that it heads both online and offline. While the offline venue focuses on the latest cultural and tourism development across Chinese regions, provinces and cities, the online platform will promote Chinese local destinations, new cultural elements and tourism products from all angles and at all dimensions in front of Chinese and international viewers. Through the online platform, CITM will go beyond the limits of space and time and serve as a business and trade platform with no barriers, or “a travel mart that never ends” for travel and tourism industries from both China and abroad. It will gather global exhibitors and buyers and give them access to hold business talks both online and offline. Buyers and exhibitors will be paired by choice via the online booking system before engaging in one-to-one communication according to their booked time slots through video call, voice messaging or texting. Similarly, after reserving time slots and venues, exhibitors can hold online talks with overseas buyers in the exhibition hall, and meet on-site buyers at their will.
Moreover, CITM2020 will ensure all activities are carried out in a science-based, safe and orderly manner in line with China’s regular COVID-19 prevention and control requirements.
CITM2020 will open from November 16 to 18, but only to business participants on November 16 and 17. Public visit day is November 18.
