China Travel International Company (CTI) has established a professional exhibition center, the first of its kind by a travel agency in Beijing.

The new center will be mainly involved organizing conferences, exhibitions and guest hosting in Europe, America and Africa.

Conferences and exhibitions are a new business in China. In recent years, leisure tourism suffered as a price war led to a cut in profits, but the conference and exhibition industry attracted more attention with 20 percent profit margin.

According to worldwide statistics, the global conference and exhibition consumption surpassed seven billion US dollars every year. Comparatively speaking, China's conference and exhibition industry developed quite late, with annual income reaching US$0.5 billion and continued a 20 percent growth year-on-year.

Experts said that China has huge potential in conference and exhibition industry, which can also stimulate tourism growth.

Travel agencies have an advantage in organizing conferences and exhibitions, because they can get cheaper rates from airlines, hotels and other suppliers.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2005)