Asia's leading travel and tourism event, the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) is well on its way to score gold for its 5th edition.

Schedule to be held at the Beijing Exhibition Center from 19 June – 21 June 2008, preparations for BITE 2008 are in full swing. Being one of the few 'approved' events leading to the Beijing Olympic Games, BITE 2008 serves as a prelude to the sporting event of the year with its Olympics theme presentation, making it a good platform to catch some early tracks on business offerings and travel packages and services specially catered to the Olympics fever.

The three-day mega tourism event, occupying all halls of the Beijing Exhibition Center with a total floor space of more than 20,000 square metres gross, will showcase over 100 represented destinations and is expected to draw 30,000 quality visitors from around the world.

Strategic partnerships continue to be vital with Greece participating as 'Partner Country' for the third year running. In show of its confidence and staunch support to BITE, Greece has taken up the largest exhibit space of 800 square metres, occupying an entire hall.

Equally supportive are Korea, Syria, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Czech Republic, India, Pakistan, Sharjah, Morocco, Malaysia, Tunisia, United Kingdom and Japan; most of which have increased their exhibit space by threefold this year. First time exhibitors such as Tahiti and Republic of Azerbaijian are also recognising the distinct uniqueness and benefits of BITE with their debut appearance at the event. With over 95% of space confirmed or reserved, BITE 2008 is predicted to well surpass it's preceding years' performance.

The very popular Hosted Buyers Programme is also on target with some 75% of top-level buyers from more than 30 countries confirming their participation in BITE 2008. Buyers are all eager to take advantage of the one-to-one business matchmaking arrangements with the very successful Pre-Scheduled Appointments Programme (PSA).

The Beijing International Tourism Expo is organised by the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA), and co-managed by Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte Ltd (as international organiser) and Beijing Relation Exhibition Co Ltd (as local organiser). It will be open to trade visitors in the first two days and to public on the last day.

Organised since 2003, Beijing International Tourism Expo is one of the fastest growing in the industry, attaining a quality ranking in Asia, and becoming an important and influential platform for tourism networking and business transactions.