Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has opened registration for Chengdu International Tourism Expo (CITE) 2018.
Registration for the international travel trade show, which is to be held from November 29 to December 1 at the Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Chengdu, is open till October 11. Interested parties have been requested to submit a co-exhibitor registration form to MATATO.
Participation costs USD 1,500 for resorts, hotels and airlines, while guesthouses and travel agents have to pay USD 1,000. Every registered party will receive a two by two metre counter space along with one exhibitor badge, but will have to pay USD 200 for every additional participant.
According to MATATO, the Maldives stand will also have four limited premium tables, each designed as cubicles with partitioned walls, two chairs and a table to hold meeting with buyers. A premium table can be booked for an extra USD 1,000, it said.
Inaugurated in 2012, CITE is the leading tourism exhibition in Chengdu for professionals in the tourism industry to promote their latest travel packages, destinations, products and services.
In 2017, the fifth edition of CITE series attracted 400 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions, over a gross area of 10,000sqm. The three-day event also saw 400 local and international hosted buyers, 6000 trade visitors and 10,000 public visitors.
CITE 2018 targets both trade and public visitors, providing a good mix of business and networking opportunities. The completion of new international air flight routes and airport in Chengdu provides enhanced infrastructure to facilitate the promotion and interaction between both domestic and foreign tourism market of Sichuan and Chengdu, thereby supplementing and promoting business transactions.
Despite falling numbers, China remains the single biggest contributor to the Maldives tourism industry.
Last year, 306,530 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives — a 5.5 percent decrease from the 324,326 the previous year.
However, according to the latest arrival figures, the double digit decline in the Chinese market for the past two years slowed down in August as arrivals decreased by only 0.8 percent to reach 33,472 from 33,743 in August 2017. This performance narrowed the decline in arrivals from the Maldives’ single biggest source market for the January-August period to 7.4 percent.