The China Tourism Academy predicts that the recovery process of the inbound and outbound tourism market will further accelerate in 2024, with annual inbound and outbound tourism trips exceeding 264 million trips.
WTM Africa has formed a strategic buyer and media partnership with China Travel Online, a leading Chinese outbound travel portal, to facilitate engagement with key Chinese tourism stakeholders at the 2024 show in Cape Town.
China Travel Online connects destinations, attractions, hotels and other travel suppliers worldwide to Chinese operators and professionals. It is also a one-stop shop for resources, e-commerce, news and networking for Chinese travel and tourism companies and professionals.
The collaboration will see WTM Africa host several prominent Chinese buyers for pre-scheduled business meetings and networking sessions with exhibitors during the three-day event from 10 to 12 April 2024.
The China Market session during the WTM Africa conference is another highlight. It will share the latest China outbound market updates with the industry and how to penetrate the world’s largest tourism source market effectively.
“This partnership with China Travel Online allows us to bring leading Chinese industry players together with tourism suppliers from across Africa, paving the way for future growth,” says Megan De Jager, Portfolio Director for WTM Africa.
De Jager emphasises that the Chinese outbound travel market presents an enormous opportunity for the continent, especially in light of the fact that South Africa has been one of the first three nations on the continent to roll out the welcome mat to Chinese visitors in the post-COVID era.
“As this vital tourism source market picks up again post-COVID, connecting Chinese stakeholders with Africa’s diverse offering through partnerships like this will help accelerate recovery on both sides,” De Jager adds.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), at the end of 2023, international scheduled flights from China to the rest of the world reached over 60% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels. This presents an excellent opportunity for South Africa to bring Chinese visitors to its shores.
“We are excited about this partnership and the possibilities it unlocks for tourism growth between China and Africa,” comments Marcus Lee, CEO of China Travel Online.
The 2024 edition of WTM Africa in Cape Town will include business meetings, content sessions, and networking focused on empowering the expansion of African tourism.
To attend WTM Africa 2024 and bolt-on events visit: https://www.wtm.com/africa/en-gb.html
To attend ILTM Africa, visit https://www.iltm.com/africa/en-gb/enquire.html
World Travel Market (WTM) Portfolio comprises leading travel events, online portals and virtual platforms across four continents. The events are:
WTM Latin America takes place annually in the city of São Paulo and attracts around 20,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers qualified content together with networking and business opportunities. In this its tenth edition – there have been nine face-to-face events along with a 100% virtual one, which was held in 2021.
Next event: Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 April 2023 – Expo Center Norte, São Paulo, Brazil
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa under the Africa Travel Week umbrella. In 2022, WTM Africa facilitated more than 7 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019 and welcomed more than 6 thousand visitors (unaudited), the same number as in 2019.
Next event: Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 April 2023 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town
About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel, LGBTQ+ travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now on its 30th year, is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #IdeasArriveHere
Next event: Monday 1 to Thursday 4 May 2023, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai
https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
Arabian Travel Week is a is a 10-day long festival of events taking place within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2023. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes the live ATM exhibition, ILTM Arabia, ARIVAL Dubai, Influencers’ events and activations, as well as Travel Forward. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, ATM Speed Networking Events as well as Business Traveller Africa Awards 2023.
Arabian Travel Week takes place from 1 – 10 May 2023
https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. The show facilitates business connections for the global (leisure) travel community. Senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating travel industry contracts.
Next live event: Monday 6-8 November 2023 at ExCel London
WTM Global Hub, is the new WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/
About RX (Reed Exhibitions)
RX is in the business of building businesses for individuals, communities and organisations. We elevate the power of face to face events by combining data and digital products to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at approximately 400 events in 22 countries across 42 industry sectors. RX is passionate about making a positive impact on society and is fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.rxglobal.com
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 35,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX.
*Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
