HONG KONG, 30 January 2025: Dubbed a mega event by the Hong Kong government, the double-billed 39th International Travel Expo (Leisure) and 20th ITE MICE that make up the annual ITE Hong Kong will be hosted from 12 to 15 June 2025 in five halls of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
ITE Hong Kong is recognised as a leading travel show in the Asia Pacific, focusing on China’s outbound travel market, particularly in South China’s Greater Bay Area, which consists of nine Chinese cities and the two Special Administrative Regions, Hong Kong and Macao.
The show reaches the retail and wholesale travel trade, comprising tour operators, travel influencers, and traditional and online travel companies. For the first two days, it emphasises content providers from mainland China’s outbound travel market, followed by two days when the exhibition opens to local travel consumers.
HK Outbound – FIT Main Contributor to Quality Recovery
“By international tourism expenditure, Hong Kong ranked Asia’s 4th largest market in 2019, and outbound travel in 2023 recovered to 84% by spending (USD22.7 billion) and 77% by departures (72.2 million). Spending recovered more than departures is a reflection of quality in Recovery,” show organiser TKS Exhibition Services said in a recent update.
“However, the recovery of outbound package tours in Hong Kong, reported in media in March 2024 (Oriental Daily 20/3/2024) recovered to around half of the pre-pandemic level, far slower than the market. Thus, FIT (Free Independent Traveller) is the major contributor to recovery. Also, Hong Kong departures continued rising in the first 10 months of 2024, up 52% to 85.1 million compared to 2023.”
Quality recovery demonstrated at ITE
ITE held its 4th physical edition since Covid-19 in 2024, occupying the same five halls as in 2019, and achieved a highly international profile of exhibitors and more regional trade buyers. Around half of buyers and trade visitors came from mainland China and other Asian cities. Public visitors were mainly premium FITs, with 59% reporting they had increased their 2024 travel budget.
ITE fast facts
Over 70% of ITE trade visitors and all public visitors came from the Greater Bay Area, which includes Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. The GBA region in 2023 had a combined GDP of USD1.97 trillion and a population of 86 million.
Premium FITs boost business opportunities
An ITE survey in 2024 garnered data from 3740 replies. The feedback showed that public visitors (90%) were overwhelmingly “premium FITs”, including private groups. Over 85% were between 25 and 60 years old. Around half had a university education, and many were fluent in English. Some 7000 of them attended around 80 travel seminars over the two days the show opened to the public.
In addition to the above, the widespread use of electronic payments even inside the exhibition halls means overseas exhibitors can deal directly with these premium FITs attending the show, allowing them to answer last-mile questions and adapt or create custom-made itineraries as well as accept bookings.
The annual ITE Hong Kong is supported by the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, China, with the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and the Macao Government Tourism Office.
For details, visit www.itehk.com Exhibiting or contact the organiser, TKS Exhibition Services Ltd: Email [email protected]
