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REPORT – BEIJING: How many times have you been at a trade show and been shoved and pushed in the brochure/fridge magnet/freebie grab?…
REPORT – BEIJING: How many times have you been at a trade show and been shoved and pushed in the brochure/fridge magnet/freebie grab? Is this any way to seriously conduct business? Is it conducive to establishing new relationships with vendors from distant shores? Some trade shows allow the public to attend on designated days, all of which means exhibitors/sellers can look forward to having their costly materials depleted by folks that never in this lifetime will visit their destination/stay in their hotel/fly their airline. This is not at all helpful to exhibitors who have forked over good money and time to be at an event, presumably to do business with people who are qualified to buy their product on an ongoing basis.
And that is precisely why the Beijing International Travel and Tourism Market (BITTM) is proving to be unique and effective from both the exhibitors and buyers perspectives. The obstacle of stampeding sightseers has been eliminated and a relaxed, friendly business setting is the order of the day at BITTM. Sure, in a city the size of Beijing, populated with people who are highly curious about the world outside of China, it would be very easy to have every aisle and stand jammed with consumers from dawn to dusk engaging in the Great Brochure Grab. However, BITTM is strictly 100% outbound, business to business – and the organizers honour that promise. Exhibitors get the unique opportunity and environment to sit down one-on-one with qualified Chinese buyers and actually conduct business. At BITTM rates are being negotiated, contracts are being signed and relationships built. The emerging Chinese outbound market is enormous with huge potential for the savvy sellers and buyers who hit the ground running from the opening whistle yesterday at BITTM. However, the magnitude of the Chinese outbound market is not yet properly grasped by some parts of the tourism and travel industry. The exhibitors attending BITTM and already planning on BITTM 2006 are ahead of the curve and fully cognizant of the astonishing depth and eagerness of this new outbound market. BITTM exhibitors are presenting their services, destinations and brands to qualified, serious buyers who are urgently searching for a range of destinations, brands and services to present to the people of China, who are raring to go.
A breath of fresh air blew into windy Beijing this week. It is BITTM and its proactive exhibitors and buyers demonstrating that one can tear down barriers, overcome great distances and differences in cultures to get down to the business of marketing travel products to people who have waited a long, long, long time to be able to buy them. The doors are now open (not for the Great Brochure Grab of course!) But if you`re not participating this week in Beijing, early registration is now being accepted for BITTM 2006. Bravo to everyone busily engaged in the real business of buying and selling travel at BITTM 2005 – it is my understanding first in, best dressed is a phrase understood the world over.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
