The Croatian National Tourist Board presents its tourist offer at the large online fair CHINA-CEEC Expo, intended to strengthen investments and trade exchanges between China and 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The fair, which has been held in the Chinese city of Ningbo since 2015, was supposed to be held in early June this year, but due to the situation caused by the corona virus pandemic, it will be held for the first time online from June 8th until the end of the year.

- China sees great importance in the China + 17 cooperation mechanism and all related meetings. The largest number of tour operators participating in the fair cover the developed east coast of China, or the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu and Shanghai. Despite the fact that due to the current situation in the coming period we do not expect a large number of visitors from the Chinese market, we maintain our presence and visibility in the Chinese market and continue communication with Chinese partners and establish new mechanisms of joint cooperation - said Croatian National Tourist Director Kristjan Stanicic.

This year, at B2B meetings, taking into account the virtual edition, an increase in the number of participants from across the country is expected. The tourism sector will hold its first round of meetings by the end of June, but several more sequences of virtual B2B meetings for all industries are expected during the year.

-At this moment, it is very important to take advantage of the digital benefits of the times in which we live. In this way, in special circumstances, we can carry out our activities quickly and efficiently. Regardless of the current situation, interest in Croatia is not declining and we expect a gradual return from the Far Eastern markets once air traffic stabilizes - said Franka Gulin, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Bord Representation in China, noting that Croatian National Tourist Board created a special virtual profile for the fair, which will present all Croatian regions, while up to 15 B2B meetings with Chinese businesses will be held through the first round.

Performance at the Virtual Fair for the European and Chinese tourism industry

From 22nd to 24th of June, for the first time, the online fair Virtual Fair for the European and Chinese tourism industry will be held, which is dedicated to establishing cooperation between Chinese buyers and participants from European Union countries. This is the first series of events of this kind with the aim of encouraging the internationalization of European tour operators, promoting trans-European tourism products and organizing B2B events. Given that before the pandemic, Europe recorded a large increase in popularity among Chinese tourists, the goal of these events is to renew this trend and provide a boost to business.

The fair is held within the Partnerships in European Tourism (PET) project, which is funded by the European Commission and which includes virtual B2B fairs, webinars, e-learning and matchmaking events. Croatian Tourist Board, Zagreb Tourist Board and Dubrovnik Tourist Board will perform at the fair at a joint virtual stand, and Amathus Travel and DT Croatia (Dubrovnik Travel) will be represent the Croatian tour operators.