China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market (COTTM) recorded another fantastic year, with 60% more high-end buyers than ever before.

China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market (COTTM) recorded another fantastic year, with over 3000 leading outbound tourism buyers and very high exhibitor satisfaction levels with 97% indicating that they would exhibit again in 2015.

The tenth anniversary edition of the annual outbound tourism exhibition marked an exciting year for the show, with the outbound industry recording record growth of 18% compared with 5% for the rest of the world (COTRI). The event featured more than 400 exhibitors from 65 different countries. There were more destinations and travel services showcased than ever before to a trade audience of over 3,000 of the leading outbound tour operators from all over China.

COTTM 2014 welcomed brand new destinations such as Georgia, Jordan, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Rwanda, Sharjah and the South Pacific with Croatia, Jamaica, Maldives, Mozambique and Zambia making a welcomed return to the show, demonstrating the truly international reach of the show.

“It has been proved yet again that COTTM is a professional platform for international travel and tourism suppliers to showcase their products and services to the leading Chinese outbound professionals. This well-established exhibition has now become the leading brand in the industry,” said Mr Daibin, President of China Tourism Academy, the research arm of the China National Tourism Association (CNTA)

Firmly established as the most successful B2B trade only event for the outbound tourism market, COTTM also featured a high-calibre seminar programme for both exhibitors and visitors with many sessions standing room only, organised in partnership with COTRI – the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. The diverse range of topics included; China Travel Social Media; Mergers & Acquisitions; trends in outbound tourism; and cross industry co-operation. All offered invaluable insights and acted as a forum for the exchange of new ideas and concepts for both visitors and exhibitors.

“COTRI have supported the show since the beginning, it was noticeable this year that the quality of visitors had increased with excellent opportunities for business meetings. This was definitely the best show yet,” said Wolfgang Prof. Dr Wolfgang Art. China Outbound Tourism Research Institute.

In order to meet the demand for luxury travel, the Luxury Travel Showcase returned for the 3rd year to COTTM with over 60% more high-end buyers than in previous shows. 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 was highlighted by first time exhibitor Thailand Holiday Homes, “Tarsus have given careful consideration to the needs of the participants, the Luxury Travel Showcase was absolutely the right place for us to launch our product, where the visitors were well prepared. COTTM 2015 is already in my diary.”

With record numbers of Chinese tourists packing their bags and fuelling a transformation of the global outbound travel and tourism industry. China is set to overtake the US as the largest source of outbound travel spend in the world this year, with their share of global outbound expenditure set to rise from 1% in 2005 to 20% in 2023. (Oxford Economics). Rising incomes are driving unprecedented growth in spending and travel and China will account for about 40% of Asian outbound travellers. Chinese urban travellers take around 500 million domestic and outbound trips spending around US $260 billion, this is set to rise to 1.7 billion trips and US$1.8 trillion in spending by 2030. (The Boston Consulting Group)

“It has been another fantastic year for COTTM, as we we marked our 10th anniversary edition of the show at a time when the industry goes from strength to strength. With more serious high-end buyers than ever before. We saw a 4.6% increase in hosted buyers and over 62% increase in luxury buyers and exhibitor feedback has been reflective of this with 97% saying they would exhibit again,” said Matt Thompson, Project Director, COTTM. “The Chinese outbound tourism industry recorded growth of 18% this year compared with 5% in the rest of the world and COTTM continues to be the perfect platform for Chinese tour operators and travel professionals to meet and take advantage of this booming market.”

The next edition of COTTM will take place 14th – 16th April 2015 at the (New Hall) National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Beijing.

About COTTM:
COTTM has been running for ten 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 destinations, 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.

For further information about COTTM 2015, please contact:
Megan Johnstone-Mackie
Events Assistant
E: [email protected]

For further information on exhibiting at about COTTM 2015, please contact:
Jane Carter
Sales Manager
E: [email protected]