As tourism fairs go, they do not come much larger than the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE).

And at this year’s BITE, officially opened on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, Malta had pride of place with a major pavilion co-sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) and the Alpine Sterling Destination Management Company.

Ambassador of Malta to China, Mr John Aquilina, was invited as an Official Guest to participate in the Opening Ceremony.

Visiting Beijing from Malta for the BITE were Ms Xiaolong (Monica) Wu, Marketing Manager with MTA, Mr Warren Zahra, Managing Director of Alpine Sterling and Ms Chen Yueru, Mr Zahra’s assistant.

The large, brightly coloured pavilion was an early draw card for interested Chinese visitors to the fair.

For many Chinese, this was their first exposure to Malta, and enquiries came thick and fast.

All walked away happily carrying the bright Maltese bags printed in both English and Chinese, containing Chinese printed brochures about Malta and Maltese artifacts.

The pavilion also attracted wide tourism media attention, with Ambassador Mr John Aquilina and Ms Xiaolong (Monica) Wu holding a joint media conference at the site.

Later in the day Ambassador John Aquilina was invited to a private room for an exclusive interview with one of China’s most prestigious media outlets, Phoenix New Media Limited.

The Maltese Pavilion was honoured by a visit from the BITE organizing committee, all of whom highly commended the pavilion and expressed their strong satisfaction at Malta’s participation in this year’s event.

A member of the committee proudly told the other members that he had been to Malta recently, and that it was one of the most beautiful places he had ever visited.

BITE is due to run for three days, during which time the Maltese Pavilion will be visited by thousands of keen Chinese travellers.