Over 500 exhibitors from 45 countries are showcasing a smorgasbord of vacation options at the seventh annual World Travel Fair, which is being held in the Shanghai Exhibition Center from May 27 to May 29.

With a bit of help from the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, event co-organizers VNU Exhibitions Asia and the Shanghai International Conference Management Organization expect a strong turnout as travelers from across China and beyond come to see the bargains on offer.

"We expect this year's show to be a lot more popular than last," Xia Jie, a marketing executive for VNU Exhibitions Asia, told the Global Times Thursday. "We've made the show bigger this year and added a special Expo component by including a number of travel agencies that specialize in popular tourist spots near Shanghai, such as Suzhou in Jiangsu Province and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. This is aimed at Expo guests who come to check out the fair."

Alongside travel within China, Jie cites the US and Asian countries like the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea as popular picks for the increasingly travel-savvy Chinese public.

The first day-and-a-half of the fair is reserved for professionals who want to scope out the offerings and make business contacts, but discounts will be readily available when the doors open to the public from this afternoon.

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