Want to bite off a slice of Beijing's tourism cake and optimize your plans for your next vacation? Then don't miss BITE – Beijing International Tourism Expo 2009 – open from June 18 to 20.

This year's three-day expo, the sixth of its kind since it was first launched in 2004, will provide a brand new opportunity for travel agencies to sell their travel products to the general public.

Twenty-five carefully selected travel agencies will bring their latest, most popular, and best-quality travel package products. According to the Organizing Committee of BITE, they will hand out free coupons and provide direct discounts to potential vacationers during the expo.

Admission to this area is free during the three days expo.

Location Map

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"The purpose of opening such an area is to provide a means of advance vacation planning and rational spending among domestic tourism consumers, and strive to make BITE an optimal location for people to realize their plans," said Zhang Huiguang, director-general of the Beijing Tourism Administration, at a press conference held today.

Zhang said another purpose of BITE is to build connections between Beijing's tourism business and the world's tourism market.

Professional exhibit areas will open only to professional visitors on the first two days, then to the public on the last day. Admission tickets are priced respectively at 20 yuan and 5 yuan per person.

Gu Xiaoyuan, deputy director of the administration and organizer of BITE, admits that the current economic difficulties and the recent global spread of A/H1N1influenza have both had an impact on the marketing for BITE.

"Small businesses and agencies are reluctant to participate, probably as a result of market shrinkage," Gu told China.org.cn. "Nonetheless, we still have exhibitors and buyers from 82 countries and regions and 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions."

There has been a drop in inbound visitors due to the influence of financial crisis, but Beijing is still attracting more visitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In the first quarter, Beijing hosted 96,000 visitors from the above three locations, an increase of 25 percent compared with the same period last year. According to figures provided by the administration, from January to April Beijing played host to 45.38 million domestic and foreign tourists, up 38 percent compared to the same period last year.

BITE 2009 will be held at the Beijing Exhibition Center (BEC) from June 18 to 20.