On May 10, the global kick-off conference for the 2021 International Cigar Expo (ICE 2021), was held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province to promote the coming expo to be held there on November 8-10, 2021. The pre-expo conference was held to invite global premium cigar and cigar-related enterprises to attend the expo and featured entertainment and speeches by representatives of Habanos S.A., Oettinger Davidoff AG, and the Chinese cigar manufacturer Bulldog.
ICE 2021 will take place at Tianfu International Convention Center, in the Sichuan Province capitol city of Chengdu, which is called the “hometown of the Chinese cigar”. The event is hosted by China Cigarette Sales Corp. and China Tobacco International Group Ltd. and is organized by China Tobacco Sichuan Industrial Co., Ltd., and co-organized by China Tobacco Anhui, China Tobacco Shandong, Hubei Industrial Co., Ltd.; the China Tobacco provincial companies of Hubei, Hainan, Sichuan, and Yunnan Provinces; and Shenzhen Tobacco Import and Export Co., Ltd.
ICE 2021 focuses on the exhibition of premium cigars and related products of Chinese and foreign brands, cigar culture and lifestyle experience, and the exchange and cooperation of the cigar industry chain, with a total exhibition area of over 10,000 sqm. Various products and services to be exhibited, include premium cigars, tobacco, accessories, pipes, drinks pairings, lifestyle, auxiliary materials, cigar machinery, and cigar media.
Diverse meetings and events will be held, such as Cigar Night Welcome Party, Cigar Industry Development Forum, Cigar International Academic Forum, professional seminars, cigar tasting, and game salons, etc., in a bid to establish a platform for facilitating exchange, convergence, and mutual development in terms of trade, technology, and project cooperation in the cigar industry.
Very specially, a “virtual exhibition” platform will also be built during ICE 21 to accommodate those who are unable to attend physically. With IT application s such as 5G, VR/MR, and big data, etc., the brand-new online digitalized exhibition platform will offer a creative space for display, communication, and interaction.
Local authorities said that the organizers will invite more than 150 domestic and overseas enterprises, with over 10,000 exhibitors, guests, and professional visitors participating. Many famous brand enterprises, such as Habanos, Davidoff, Bulldog, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, etc., confirmed their presence to display brand-new products and communicate the latest achievements of the industry together with other international renowned enterprises that produce cigar and cigar-related products.
The first ICE was held in Shenzhen in December 2019. As the host city of the 2nd ICE, Chengdu is one of the largest cigar markets in Chin, with a solid industrial base and huge potential for the cigar industry. Moreover, Sichuan Province boasts the largest cigar production base in Asia and the national base for premium air-cured tobacco.
As a comprehensive international cigar industry exhibition hosted by China Tobacco, the expo strives to establish an authoritative, professional, and opening-up platform for international cigar display and cigar trade. Following the principle of accelerating the establishment of a “dual circulation” development pattern in which domestic economic cycle plays a leading role while international economic cycle remains its extension and supplement and promoting international cooperation based on high-quality opening up, the expo will boost exchanges and cooperation between the domestic and international cigar industries and share and witness the fruitful results of the innovative development of Chinese cigar industry, thus fueling the high-quality development of domestic cigar consumption market.
Prospective exhibitors are welcomed to register online on the official website of 2021 ICE at www.intercigarexpo.com