With spring in the air,Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou was packed with people on March 1. Sponsored by Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and the Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality and organized by Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd.,Guangzhou International Travel Fair 2012 (GITF 2012) grandly opened in Area C of China Import and Export Fair Complex (Pazhou Complex) in the morning. Vice Governor of Guangdong Province Xu Ruisheng, with Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration,Vice Mayor of Guangzhou Wang Dong, with the Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality,and Mr. Roberto Foresti,Commercial and International Business Director of Fiera Milano attended the opening ceremony and started GITF 2012. Vice Secretary General of Guangzhou Chen Shaokang hosted the event.
Travel World China participated in GITF as one of its media partners, representing FSM Visitors Board, Malawi Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture, Marshall Islands Visitors Authority, Montenegro Tourism Board, Mozambique Tourism Board, Sudan Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Zanzibar Tourism Board, Transaero Airline as well as tour operators, DMC companies and hotels overseas such Abreu, Tanganyika Expeditions, Mac Hotes and so on.
In this Chinese Year of the Dragon,GITF ushered in its 20th annual event. Vice Mayor of Guangzhou Wang Dong said in his speech,"In recent years,with continuous perfection of the tourism industrial system and ever-enhancing industrial quality,the function of the industry is playing a more important role and its comprehensive competitive strength has been obviously enhanced," he noted that in 2012,following the development path of modern urbanization,Guangzhou has made great efforts to build itself into an international business and trade hub,a world renowned famous city,and to realize its general objective to become the country's central city. A new round of development opportunities will also emerge for the city's tourism industry.
GITF 2012 has a great improvement in terms of brand building and professionalism over the previous events. It attracts nearly 700 exhibitors from 36 countries and regions. The proportion of overseas exhibitors has risen up to 46%. The exhibition area reaches 22,000 square meters,a 15% increase over the last year. Held at Pazhou Complex for the first time,this year's GITF is expected to have visitors reaching 70,000 person-times.
GITF is the earliest large-scale international travel fair with the longest history ever held in China. This year's fair is the largest in many senses since its inauguration in 1993. It has the newest venue,the largest exhibition area,as well as the highest profiles on domestic and overseas exhibitors. GITF 2012 presents new exhibitions from the tourism bureaus of Canada,the U.S.,Russia,Iceland,Iran and the U.K. Besides,exhibitors from many other countries and regions including Turkey,Germany,Czech Republic,Guam,Brazil,France,Hungary,Austria,Nepal,the Philippines,India,Indonesia,Macau,Hong Kong,South Korea,Japan,Thailand,Sri Lanka,the United Arab Emirates and Kenya will once again come to the show to provide visitors with a wonderful experience of traveling around the world.
Domestic travel agencies from Inner Mongolia,Beijing,Wuhan,Charming Guang-Shen-Zhu,Guang-Fo-Zhao City Union,Dongguan,Conghua,Heyuan,Huizhou,Zengcheng,Jiangmen,Meizhou,and Nan-Fan-Shun Union will wow the audience by launching a series of popular domestic tourist products at GITF 2012.
Mr. Roberto Foresti,Commercial and International Business Director of Fiera Milano said,"As one of the most important international travel fairs in the Asia-Pacific region,GITF not only builds the best business platform for the exhibitors and visitors to have contact with customers,promote business and expand their brand influences,but also facilitates and deepens exchange and cooperation in tourism among countries and regions."
In order to ensure good order and safety at the show and provide the exhibitors with a good environment for business meetings,admission tickets are required for GITF 2012. Public visitors can buy the ticket at the venue for RMB 10 Yuan. Visitors need to beware that the trade hall (No. 16.2) are not open to public visitors on March 1 and 2. Those with tickets for these two days can only visit the public halls (No. 14.2 and 15.2). The trade hall is open to the public on March 3. Visitors can visit both the trade hall and the public halls on that day. The ticket is good only for the specified date,and will become invalid the next day. The opening hours are from 10:30 to 16:30 on March 1,from 9:00 to 16:30 on March 2,and from 9:00 to 17:00 on March 3.
