HÀ NỘI — The annual International Travel Expo HCM City 2016 (ITE HCMC 2016), known as the largest and best established travel exhibition in Viet Nam will be held from September 8-10, to help both local and international companies collaborate and discuss inbound and outbound tourism in Việt Nam and the Mekong Region.

In particular this year, the event, which is being organised for the 12th time in HCM City, will welcome several internationally-known tourism bloggers who will share their experiences about promoting tourism through social media at a conference on September 9.  

“This year’s ITE HCMC is particularly special as we are hosting at the expo a group of outstanding and very popular travel bloggers from countries like Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and the UK,” said Jack Wei, the General Manager of Informa Exhibitions which co-organise the event.

“They will share their experiences on their social media accounts, allowing more people in the world to understand better the extraordinary beauty of Việt Nam, bringing into vivid colour the true essence of Việt Nam – Timeless Charm,” he adds.

Organisers said that the 12th ITE HCMC this year would be bigger and better than ever before, upgrading in terms of space; quality of products and brands with the aim of developing the travel market.

The expo this year, with an expected 270 stands from local and foreign travel companies, hotels and airlines participating from over 30 countries and territories, will cover 6,500 sq.m at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City’s District 7.

"The annual ITE HCMC is an effective trade platform for domestic and international enterprises to explore opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel businesses in Việt Nam and the Mekong region," said Hà Văn Siêu, deputy General Director of Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism at a press conference held in Hà Nội yesterday.

This event is a networking platform for travel enterprises to showcase their quality products and services, to encourage competitiveness and promote tourism, business exchange not only in Mekong region but also for countries and travel cities from the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

“Following eleven successful consecutive events, ITE HCMC has actively contributed to the strong development in regional co-operation in the field of tourism, enhancing the promotion of the countries, people and cultures of ASEAN countries contributing to sustainable development of tourism industry and the ASEAN region,” he said.

More than 30,000 international, regional and local trade and public visitors are expected to attend the exhibition.

Many new travel tours in Việt Nam will be presented at the event. Several conferences, including one about tourism co-operation between Việt Nam and Russia, and one about dental tourism will also be organised during the exhibition.

Established in 2005, ITE HCMC has been regarded as Việt Nam’s foremost tourism trade event.  The exhibition is endorsed by the various tourism ministries in the Mekong region: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Việt Nam. It is co-organised by the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism, the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Việt Nam Trade Fair and Advertising Joint-Stock Company and Informa Exhibitions Pte Ltd.

Last year, the event hosted 250 companies and attracted more than 25,600 visitors across three days, from 21 countries and territories. — VNS