For the third year running, Marriott International will participate in CIBTM (www.cibtm.com), China’s leading meetings industry event, which takes place in Beijing from 12th to 14th September 2012. At the same time, the company has also confirmed its participation for 2013, stating the event has successfully attracted the right buyers and decision makers from China and Asia that have the ability to influence and drive MICE opportunities into their hotels.
“If you want to be a major player in this industry, CIBTM is an important platform to conduct business and we have no doubt that the event will meet and exceed our expectations so we are happy to be a key driver and partner in the evolution of this show” said John Toomey, VP Global Sales North Asia for Marriott International.
In November 2011, Marriott International announced its 100th hotel in China and since then they have increased their number of newly signed or opened hotels to 109. The company continues to sign a hotel in China every week with 7 projects in January 2012 alone.
“Our plan for China is to continue to grow strategically using a selective suite of brands, and working with the best owners and developers to deliver great hotels and guest experiences across the country.
“While we already have more than 100 hotels open or underway in China, we still feel we have a very long way to grow in terms of potential. We are committed to China and is focusing very strongly on China and will continue to do so,” commented Toomey.
China is now the 2nd largest economy in the world, which is stable, dynamic and fasting-growing. As a country with a swiftly growing meetings market both inbound and outbound it plays a significant role in many industry sectors.
According to China National Tourism Administration, 39.9% of inbound travel to China is for business and meetings; in Beijing 50% inbound travelers are business travelers. Beijing hosts more than 220,000 meetings and conferences every year and the exhibitions and meetings generate yearly revenue of RMB13.18 billion. It is expected that by 2020, the scale if the meetings industry market will be four or five times as large as it is today.
CIBTM 2011 saw record-breaking attendance with some 4,400 Hosted Buyers and Trade Visitors taking part and over 7,500 Pre-Scheduled appointments were made prior to the event opened. 391 main stand holders and exhibiting partners also attended confirming the largest CIBTM to date which clearly helped to deliver business specific to the meetings sector.
This year Beijing will also host the SITE 2012 global conference, which is co-located with CIBTM 2012.
Companies interested in exhibiting at CIBTM 2012 should contact Danielle Keogh, Head of Sales for CIBTM. Please email Danielle.keogh@reedexpo.co.uk or call 0208 910 7191.
CIBTM 2012 takes place on the 12th-14th September 2012.
