THE Bahrain International Travel Expo – BITE 2009 will be held in Bahrain for the 5th consecutive year from May 14 to 16 next year. Held at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre, the show has established itself on the international travel exhibition map. “ In order to make BITE grow in the years to come and be ready for the new exhibition venue by 2011 the organisers Magnum Events and Exhibitions Management - MEEM have formed an executive committee to manage and recommend how the show can be taken forward “ said Mr Hisham AlBaradie chairman MEEM.
Heading this committee is Debbie Stanford Kristiansen, acting CEO Bahrain Exhibition & Convention Authority, who was elected chairperson. She said that all the committee members were key stakeholders within the Bahrain tourism sector who, “…have the ability to contribute greatly towards the success of the show and ensuring the quality and level of both international hosted buyers and exhibitors is very high”.
The new exhibition venue known as Bahrain Expo City in Sakhir is due for ground breaking in the first quarter of 2009, with the targeted completion date of 2011. This new venue will increase the existing exhibiting and meeting area by more than six fold, she said.
Regarding BITE 2009 she felt that the show had established itself in the international calendar of travel trade events, the focus was to be on strengthening the brand and focusing on positioning the show in the luxury sector for the Middle East in the near future.
“Substantial progress has been made on both the exhibitors side and hosted buyer programme. Extensive mailings and promotions have already taken place and will continue to do so.” BITE had established a presence at WTM and will also be promoted at EIBTM in Barcelona and at ILTM in Cannes.
Natasha Ridley, project manager MEEM, said that for the 2009 event 150 exhibitors and 125 MICE specialists and international media from around 50 countries were expected. Show dates and show hours are as follows: Thursday May 14 is for hosted buyers only from 10am to 4pm, then it opens to the public from 5pm to 8pm. On Friday May 15 the show is open to the public from 3pm to 9pm, and on Saturday May 16 it is open to the public from 10am to 12.30pm and 3pm to 9pm.
Feed back from the hosted buyers who attended the 2008 event was positive. “It seemed to me that BITE is absolutely a golden opportunity for our business. Although I have been to many countries during my career, this is my first time to a Gulf country. The consumer exhibition, Arabic folk customs, friendly people, excellent facilities, hotels, fantastic water park and BIC left us with a nice memory,” said Shaopu Lee, vice general manager China Travel Services, China.
Exhibitors from last year’s event were equally positive. “We consider BITE to be an important event for us and the travel community in whole, to promote both inbound and outbound travel. Our marketing team has already booked space for the 2009 event,” said captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, undersecretary for Civil Aviation Affairs Bahrain.
“BITE is a gathering of the right company... meeting the right people... at the right time... A place where great minds meet!” concluded Abraham John, executive director BITE 2009.