Finland selected as partner country for ITB China

From May 16th-18th the focus of ITB China, the travel industry event taking place in Shanghai, will be on its partner destination Finland.

“Finland has proven that it is attaching a great importance in enhancing Chinese tourists’ travel experience.

“Finland is running a multitude of visa centres in China, working on e-visa solutions for Chinese tourists and has opened up for Chinese mobile payments systems adding a lot of convenience for Chinese visiting Finland.

“These are just some examples clearly proving Finland’s devotion to the Chinese travel market, which is a perfect precondition to being ITB China’s Partner Destination,” said David Axiotis, general manager ITB China.

Around 50 delegates from Finland, which has a strong presence on the show floor, will be representing the country at ITB China this year.

Finland will be the co-host of ITB China’s official opening dinner with some 600 guests attending and will also organise numerous events during the fair, such as a dedicated networking reception on the evening of May 16th, attracting some 300 attendees.

Paavo Virkkunen, head of Visit Finland, commented: “Chinese travellers are a very important tourism source market for Finland, and the growth in visitor numbers has been impressive in recent years.

“From January to November 2017, the number of overnights from China to Finland has reached to 321,172 with a 34.3 per cent growth compared to January to December 2016.

“China represents the fifth largest group of travellers to Finland.

“We are continually working to enhance our partnership with travel trade partners in China to provide unique travel products to Chinese travellers and ITB China provides us with a great platform to present Finland to Chinese decision makers.

“This year also marks the EU-China Tourism Year for which ITB China is an official partner event of.

“As a member of the European Union, Finland is thrilled to contribute to this year of cooperation and celebration between China and Europe and we are looking forward to a successful ITB China 2018.”