The only business-to-business exhibition in China dedicated to the outbound travel market——China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market (COTTM) recorded another growth year for the ninth consecutive time.

 

 

The ninth edition of the annual outbound tourism exhibition was the largest in the event's history, floor space grew by 11% and the event featured more than 275 exhibitors from 62 different countries. There were more destinations and travel services showcased than ever before to a trade audience of over 4,000 leading outbound tour operators from all over China.

COTTM 2013 welcomed brand new destinations such as Burundi, Costa Rica, Madagascar and Tahiti, and Azerbaijan made a welcomed return to the show, demonstrating the truly international reach of the show.

In order to meet the demand for luxury travel, the Luxury Travel Showcase returned for the second year to COTTM. One of the many highlights at the show, this dedicated section proved to be the ideal way for qualified visitors to instantly find high-end travel services and discover more about what luxury travel has to offer the Chinese outbound market.

This comes as UNWTO (on the 4th April 2013) officially declared China as being the No. 1 international tourism source market, overtaking the 2012 results for both Germany and USA both in terms of numbers of travels and spending. On April 7th, Xi Jinping, the new Secretary General of the Communist Party of China, forecasted that more than 400 million Chinese will travel abroad within the next five years. China is also expected to make overseas investments of $500 billion and import goods worth 410 trillion over the next few years.

"It has been another fantastic year for COTTM. Our growth is reflective of the dramatic rise of the outbound tourism market from China which has been well documented, over the past decade the number of Chinese tourists going overseas has quadrupled. With over 90 million border-crossing estimated in 2013, China is the No. 1 global outbound tourism source market. We are pleased that this year yet again COTTM exceeded expectations by attracting worldwide destinations in greater numbers and from more countries than before, emphasising this strong growth in the region."——Matt Thompson, Project Director, COTTM

The next edition of COTTM will take place 9 – 11 April 2014 at the (New Hall) National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Beijing.

About COTTM:
COTTM has been running for nine years and is the only dedicated business-to business outbound travel and tourism event in China. Continuing to provide an unrivalled platform for Chinese tour operators, travel agencies, corporate buyers and business travel agencies to source new and exciting destination, as well as strengthen current relationships.

COTTM is organised by Tarsus Group. Tarsus Group is an international company with a portfolio of exhibitions, conferences, publications and online media that spans the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.