More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE 2008), which will open today evening (May 14) at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

The four-day event is being held under the patronage of Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Economic Development Board chairman Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The opening ceremony, which will begin at 5pm, will be attended by Information Minister Jihad Bukamal.

The exhibition will be open to consumers and visitors from tomorrow. Opening hours are from 10am to 12.30pm, and from 4pm to 8pm tomorrow, from 4pm to 10pm on Friday, and from 10am to 6pm on Saturday.

The event has been completely sold out, said Jamil Wafa, group chairman of Magnum Holdings, the parent company of Magnum Events and Exhibitions Management (MEEM), the organisers of Bite.

More than 120 exhibitors from 44 countries are taking part in the exhibition, he added.

"When we first launched Bite four years ago, we started with 1,000sqm of space and 12,500 visitors," said Wafa. "This year it has grown to 8,000sqm and we are expecting 20,000 visitors."

Airlines and travel and tourism organisations from around the world will take part in the exhibition.

Bahrain's Labour Fund is organising a seminar to highlight its role in supporting the private sector and the tourism industry in particular, on Saturday, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.

The Bahrain Training Institute will launch its new Travel Academy at the Bite. "It is the first business-to-consumer travel and tourism event in the region," said Wafa.

"It is as much for businesses as it is for the consumers offering a huge variety of services, choices and special deals."

The debutants at the show include the UAE (Abu Dhabi), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, Oman, Spain, Sweden and Tunisia.

Previous participants returning to Bite are Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, the UK and the US.

A Hosted Buyers Programme will run alongside the exhibition, which supports structured networking sessions between local tourism professionals and international Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions specialists. More than 110 hosted buyers will take part. "Our motto at Bite is 'Bringing the World to Bahrain'," said Wafa.-TradeArabia News Service