The new Bit experience is ready for field testing. In the Fieramilano district of Rho, the 32° Borsa Internazionale del Turismo (International Tourism Exchange) will put into practice the motto that has accompanied it during this year of major transformation: “New Bit, New Business”.

The event was opened on Thursday morning at 10.30 with the inaugural conference “Tourism as a tool for development and the opportunities provided to the country by Expo 2015” with the participation of the Minister for Regional Affairs, Tourism and Sport, Piero Gnudi.

As Marco Serioli, director of Fiera Milano Exhibitions explains: “An increasingly international horizon, a focus on strategic issues, many new players and in particular state of the art tools through which we have made the meeting between offer and demand even more targeted and effective: these are just a few of the main characteristics of the new concept we have built up through discussions with all sector players, by renewing our team and setting ourselves the objective of providing better answers to all market requirements. Operators and their requirements once again take centre stage.”

Over the course of the four days of Bit 2012, there will be more room and space to optimize meetings and proposals thanks to a great development: the identification of dedicated times and presentations for both Operators and Travellers.

Exhibition areas and access
The Tourism Collection area (pav. 5-7) will be open exclusively for the Operators from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 of February (closing on the last day at 16.30), creating an environment best suited for exchanges with every kind of professional operating in the Tourism sector.

The Italy area (pav. 1-3) featuring Italy’s Regional displays and The World (pav. 2-4) will be open from the 16 to 19 February to the Operators and, during the weekend also to Travellers who may access specific theme areas. Taking part for the first time in Bit are:  Laos, the Cayman Islands and Angola, while we welcome the return of the Philippines, Georgia and Martinique. 120 Countries will be represented including: Japan, Jordan, Argentina, Indonesia, Iran, the Maldives, Malaysia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Zambia, Thailand, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Nepal, Germany, Spain, Poland, the South Pacific Islands, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia.

The workshops
At Bit BuyItaly, there will be workshops of worldwide significance for the Italy product which will take place on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 (Tourism Collection Area, pav. 5-7), there will be as many as 43% new entries among the over 500 Top Buyers from 50 Countries, selected according to excellence criteria among over 1.000 pre- registrations, partly thanks to the highly efficient matching system Expo Matching Program. A particular attention has been dedicated to BRIC Countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and to markets which the Operators have shown interest in, such as Eastern European Countries (Czech Republic and Poland). There will also be a strong presence by very important incoming markets such as USA and Germany.

Bit BuyClub, the only workshop dedicated to Italian and foreign associations, will take place from Thursday 16 February (Tourism Collection area, pav. 5-7) with over 200 national and international sellers selected among TO, Travel Agencies and Sales Consortiums that shall meet 100 national and international buyers from 19 countries. At Bit BuyClub the percentage of new entry Buyers is as much as 77%, over three quarters.

A world of interchanges
But the opportunities for meetings and business are not curtailed to the exhibition areas. The rich cultural program includes 13 seminars dedicated to innovative issues, in the Travel Training Room in pav. 5. In the Destination Room in pav. 4 and in the ADUTEI Room in pav. 2 one will instead get a change to get to know destinations from close up, thanks to a very direct and involving new formula.

Plus the innovative Bit Community, operating year round, transmits information and multimedia content to make contacts between Operators and business makers even more efficient and continuous. The presence at Bit of the main social networks thus completes and further expands onto a world scale any possible contacts with the leading figures and issues of the event.