The 2026 China International Travel Mart runs from 12 to 14 December in Haikou, keeping the event officially billed as Asia’s largest professional tourism fair in Hainan for a second consecutive year.
For more than two decades, Asia’s biggest travel trade fair shuttled between just two Chinese cities: Shanghai one year, Kunming the next. In 2025 it broke the pattern and came to Hainan. The island is keeping it for another year.
The 2026 China International Travel Mart (CITM) runs from 12 to 14 December at the Hainan International Convention and Exhibition Center in Haikou.
Founded in 1998, it has grown into Asia’s largest international tourism fair. It was China’s first home-grown international tourism exhibition approved by the State Council.
The 2025 edition filled 65,000 square metres at the same venue, about nine football pitches, with five exhibition zones. They spanned domestic and international destinations, Sunny Hainan, inbound-tourism consumption and culture-tourism fusion. More than 1,000 travel merchants and representatives from 101 countries and regions attended, Xinhua reported. The theme was “Ni Hao! China” (你好！中国).
Hainan province went all in. A “Sunny Hainan” zone took a dedicated hall of more than 12,000 square metres, nearly a fifth of the floor space. The province also created six themed tour routes covering the island, designating two of them for guest familiarisation visits, according to the ministry’s website. It worked 29 overseas promotion offices, from Moscow to Singapore.
The theme is “Ni Hao! China” (你好！中国) again, Hainan Online reported on 20 October. Tourism organisations and businesses from more than 100 countries and regions are expected to take part. B2B meetings are planned for more than 800 overseas and 500 domestic buyers.
Nothing about public open days has yet been announced for 2026, (watch this space).
Either way, Haikou’s December is filling up. The Hainan Winter Trade Fair runs at the same venue from 3 to 6 December. Six days after it closes, the travel mart opens its doors.
Related article: The 29th Hainan Winter Trade Fair opens in Haikou on 3 December
