The meeting, events and trade show industry exhibition ibtm China 2019 presents new Business Travel Summit

ibtm China has announced it will hold its first ever summit specifically tailored to the needs of business travel, finance and procurement managers at its upcoming 2019 event, which will take place at China National Convention Centre (CNCC) in Beijing on 28-29 August.

With China now as the global leader of digital economy and the main consumer of technology, the Business Travel Digital Innovation Summit will consider how technological innovation is changing the face of travel management. The summit will bring together around 100 leaders, cost control experts, travel managers, financial directors and purchasing managers to exchange views on business travel compliance, the digital transformation of business travel, best practice, cost control and future trends and changes in business travel.

Forming part of the event’s Knowledge Programme, the summit will include over ten sessions with speakers such as the Air China Yeego founder, Greece Guo, who has over ten years’ experience in the air travel industry, Director of Ecommerce at China Air Service, Suhua Dong, with 27 years’ experience in corporate travel management, and Tan Haoling, Vice President and General Manager of CITS American Express.

Tan Haoling, Vice President and General Manager of CITS American Express says: “Saving cost and improving corporate inefficiency have become issues of concern for Chinese companies today. Take China for instance, in which travelling between cities is quicker by high-speed railway than flying. Therefore, we need to know how to deal with international visas in an efficient way, how to manage security and how to help corporate leaders understand global travel cost control."

Ci Xue, Project Manager, ibtm China, says: “Travel cost control is the loudest sound we have heard from corporate buyers in the past two years, and as a leading global event for business and incentive travel, we have a responsibility to provide participants with the most reliable and up to date information, as well as industry trends of the future. Our Business Travel Digital Innovation Summit has been designed to help attendees succeed in this ever-changing market. We’d like to thank our partner, Lu Xiang Hui, who has helped us bring this summit to fruition.”

This year’s group of over 300 Hosted Buyers will include over 20% international buyers, with 80% from the Asia Pacific region — including second and third tier mainland China cities. In terms of buyer make-up, 60% will be agency buyers; 30% will be corporate buyers and 10% will be from associations.

Almost 380 exhibitors are expected to attend the event this year, including 23% more international exhibitors compared to 2018 (making up 55 percent of the total), 41% of which are first-time attending organisations, including Air Canada, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Sydney Conference and Training Centre. Domestic exhibitors include Beijing Tourism, Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Tourism Administration of Guangzhou Municipality, Accor Hotels and Jinling Hotels & Resorts.

intm China is the number one event for the region’s MICE industry, gathering over 5 000 global meetings industry professionals together for two days full of pre-scheduled business meetings. The event uses ibtm’s bespoke ‘matchmaking’ software to provide each Hosted Buyer with a pre-arranged schedule of meetings to ensure that buyers only meet with people with whom there’s a great chance they’ll do business.

The text/image source: official exhibition website Coex Food Week ibtm China 2019