World’s leading travel trade show with diverse display featuring every aspect of the entire value-added chain in 26 halls – the new eTravel World focuses on technology and innovative processes – partner country Poland with separate hall featuring high points of EURO 2012 – ITB Berlin reflects growth of market sectors and demand on thriving markets – ITB Berlin Convention highlights the travel industry’s main trends – discussion round examines latest upheavals in the Middle East – For the first time, PhoCusWright@ITB is fully integrated in the Convention, and free of charge
Berlin, 8 March 2011 – From 9 to 13 March 2011 a total of 11,163 exhibiting companies and organizations (2010: 11,127) from 188 countries (2010: 187) will be presenting their products and the latest travel trends at the 45th ITB Berlin. All available space has again been booked up at the world’s leading travel trade show, which is expecting some 100,000 trade visitors and 60,000 members of the general public to attend. They will be able to obtain details about the entire range of the value-added chain in tourism in 26 halls covering an area of 160,000 square metres. Egypt and Tunisia will also be present at ITB Berlin, to enable their own tourism industries to make their preparations following the recent political turmoil. The consequences for tourism of the political unrest in the Arab world will also be discussed at the ITB Berlin Convention. Dr. Christian Göke, Chief Operating Officer of Messe Berlin: “Once again the demand from exhibitors has exceeded the area available at ITB Berlin. All the leading market contributors are meeting on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. The international travel industry is expecting some record figures at 2011. The driving force comes from emerging markets in Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe, whose exhibitors will be using ITB Berlin to draw attention to themselves.”
New eTravel World forum
Technology and innovative processes are becoming increasingly important for the travel industry, which is why ITB Berlin has created a new forum. In Hall 7.1c the Mobile Travel Services section is being merged with a successful introduction from last year, the ITB Social Media Lounge, to create the eTravel World. The papers being given on the eTravel Stage will provide details about current developments in mobile computing, augmented reality and social media. At the eTravel Lab the opinion-formers and practitioners attending the workshops and seminars will invite participants to an in-depth discussion about the mobile solutions of tomorrow. The Forum is part of the Mobile Travel Services section of the exhibition, which will include many new exhibitors, among them a start-up, Komoot, the winner of the most recent VIR Innovation Prize, and such international companies as Vodafone, Voyavo from the USA and Leadcall from the UK. Other new exhibitors here will include TravelSIM from Estonia and A1Telekom Austria AG. This section was only introduced last year, but in 2011 it is already welcoming back a number of previous contributors, including Clanmo, mvolution, Pausanio, Tourias Mobile and TouristMobile.
Partner country Poland presents its modern face
A 1,600 square metre display will feature the diversity of all of Poland’s regions. The whole of Hall 15.1 will be used to present natural and cultural treasures as well as the venues for EURO 2012 and the new stadia. There are also lounges and conference rooms for trade visitors in Hall 14.2. Poland is aiming to entertain the public with thrilling dance shows from the world-famous choreographer Agustin Egurrola, with hit music and a presentation of the best of the country’s range of spas and wellness attractions. The programme will also include sports and music presentations, ethnic fashion shows and copper decoration as well as the baking of traditional, sweet croissants from Poznan, known as Saint Martin’s croissants.
Expanding sectors and emerging tourism countries
The Travel Technology sector continues to enjoy vigorous expansion. This part of ITB Berlin has definitely acquired a more international dimension and is welcoming ten new exhibitors, including Fact-Finder Travel, Multicom, Peakwork, Accovia, Vilauma, Lufthansa Systems, and Oléry from France.
There is a considerable demand for niche products too, such as the Gay and Lesbian Travel lsection, which was first introduced last year. It has undergone further successful development and is now located outside the USA stand for the first time. The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) has expanded and now includes contributions from Zurich, Antwerp, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Brazil and Argentina.
Youth Travel points the way forward for the whole industry, and valuable insights will be provided by the study that has been carried out by RUF Jugendreisen and will be presented exclusively at the ITB Berlin Convention. Dirk Föste, a member of the board of management of RUF Jugendreisen, and Axel Dammler, chief executive of iconkids & youth, will be providing details about the expectations of young travellers and the influence that they exert on the future of tourism.
The markets in Asia, Central America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are undergoing a particularly dynamic expansion. All available space has already been booked in the India Hall (5.2b), while suppliers from the Far East and South East Asia are erecting numerous two-storey stands in Hall 26. In the hall occupied by the Pacific Region (5.2a), both Fiji and Papua New Guinea have increased their display areas. In Hall 3.1 the combined Central America stand is now 40 per cent larger, and Colombia has also reserved over one-third more floor space. Zagreb is exhibiting for the first time in the Eastern Europe Hall (1.2), and the Croatia Tourism Board has increased the size of its participation. Serbia, in Hall 2.1, is also staging a significantly larger display.
The countries of the Silk Road are presenting the diversity of their cultures and their landscapes in the “Silk Road Pavilion” in Hall 7.2a/b. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are staging enlarged displays and, for the first time, Iran (Hall 7.2a) is represented immediately adjacent to the Silk Road countries.
Iraq has returned for the first time since 1966 (Hall 3.2), while Pakistan (Hall 7.2b) is a newcomer, with the Gilgit-Baltistan region. Syria and Yemen are now in Hall 21 (previously in Hall 23), together with Morocco and Algeria, which both have larger stand areas. Egypt occupies an entire hall (Hall 23) for the first time, enabling its floor area to be increased to three times its previous size, in preparation for its appearance as the partner country of ITB Berlin in 2012.
Other new exhibitors, stands and locations
Visitors to this year’s ITB Berlin will find the entire Spanish display under one roof in Hall 4.2. Wolfsburg, the centre of car-making, is represented for the first time with its own stand in Hall 6.2, next to the state of Lower Saxony. Hamburg has a new stand, befitting its role as “Europe’s Green Capital”. A new approach is being adopted by visitberlin and the federal State of Brandenburg with their new stand, which is making its debut in Hall 12.
The new exhibitors in the passageway leading to Hall 24 are McArthur Glen Outlets Europe, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the AIDS charity Aidshilfe. A number of countries are returning to Halls 20 and 21, the Africa halls, and they include São Tomé & Príncipe, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, last seen on the Exhibition Grounds in 1993.
Visitors will find plenty of new exhibitors in Hall 25: TripAdvisor, Holland-America-Line, Spar Mit!, ETI, TSI Mondial Travel GmbH and EGT Tour are all represented at ITB Berlin for the first time. Among the returnees are AGA International, formerly Mondial Reiseversicherung.
ITB Berlin demonstrates its commitment to the industry
The world’s largest travel trade show places a considerable emphasis on training and advanced training in the travel industry and implements corporate social responsibility as an integrated concept for the sustainable development of companies in this industry. Once again the central meeting point for job seekers and those planning a career is the Career Center in Hall 5.1, which has undergone further expansion this year. Some well known tourism companies are represented at the ITB Employment Exchange, powered by YOURCAREERGROUP and, as in previous years, the MeerArbeit project that has been set up by the Federal Labour Agency will be acting as a coordinator for those seeking work in the cruise industry. In addition, on 10 March 2011, ITB Berlin will be collaborating with a Munich educational establishment, Hochschule München, to stage a day for newcomers to the hotel sector. During the ITB Berlin Convention, on 9 March, the German Tourism Industry Society DGT will point out career prospects in the tourism sector and, together with ITB Berlin, will be presenting awards for the best research work. On 10 March the Africa Forum will be discussing the importance of training for improving the competitiveness of African tourism destinations, and will also be presenting some of the educational policy strategies being pursued by African countries.
CSR is a key topic at ITB Berlin
ITB Berlin sets the pace for CSR in Tourism. In addition to a number of year-round activities by ITB Berlin, it also demonstrates its commitment in the form of partnerships and support for CSR projects. On 11 March ITB Berlin will sign the code of conduct for the protection of children against sexual exploitation in tourism (Child Protection Code). Corporate social responsibility is the overarching theme in all aspects of the ITB Berlin Convention, and the ITB CSR Day is being held for the third time during the convention. This year’s ITB Berlin is hosting the Ministerial Summit on Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region. With Hiran Cooray, Chairman of PATA in the chair, HE Minister Deepak Bohara of the Nepalese Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, the Hon. Luimed Gansukh, Minister for the Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, and the Hon. Dr. Mariyam Zulfa, Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Republic of Maldives, will discuss how tourism destinations should address ecological challenges. All the events dealing with CSR at ITB Berlin 2011 have been compiled in a programme which is available in printed form from the information counters on the Exhibition Grounds, or as a download at Corporate Responsibility in Tourism (pdf, download, 2 MB).
The new ITB Eco-Mobility Day emphasizes the position of ITB Berlin as a leading innovator among international tourism conventions. Climate-friendly transport is an innovative trend which has an enormous potential in the tourism market. Transport experts will be discussing the eco-mobility status quo. The needs of car drivers have been defined in a highly topical study of the market by GfK. Examples of best practice from all over the world will be used to point the way towards sustainable transport solutions in tourism. Visions of the future will be provided by the experts André Borschberg, CEO of Solar Impulse, and Louis Palmer, the initiator, tour director and driver of the well-known solar taxi. ITB Berlin is sponsoring a solar cell on a wing of the aircraft in which Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are planning to undertake the first round-the-world, solar-powered flight in 2012. The ITB Berlin solar cell bears the number 10498.
ITB Berlin Convention highlights the travel industry’s main trends
With an attendance of more than 12,500 in 2010 the ITB Berlin Convention is now firmly established as the leading think tank for the international travel industry. The pre-eminent role of the convention in promoting innovation is borne out when one considers the five major trends that will have a significant impact on the world economy of the future. The ITB Berlin Convention this year will address all the topics, with a particular relevance to the travel industry, that were initially presented by Paul Achleitner, Chief Financial Officer of Allianz, at the World Economic Summit in Davos. For example, decarbonization will be discussed at a total of 14 sessions during the ITB CSR Day and the ITB Eco-Mobility Day. Demographics form the subject of the paper to be given by Christian Böllhoff, Managing Partner, Prognos AG, entitled “Demographics and Social Change” at the ITB Future Day. Visitors to the ITB Berlin Convention will be able to attend six sessions dealing with digitalization, including the ITB Media Summit 2011 on the subject of “Travel Journalism in the Digital Media World”. The latest comprehensive data on source markets, income structures, travel behaviour and the destinations of the users of social media and mobile devices will be presented by David Perroud, Partner & CEO, M1nd-Set. Speaking at the World Economic Summit, Paul Achleitner defined a dynamic shift as one of the major trends, and the ITB Asia Panel will be addressing this subject during the ITB Berlin Convention. More details will be provided about the Asia travel market as a market of the future, and information about new changes in Asian travel behaviour will also be available. In addition the many different facets of Mongolia – the new Convention & Culture Partner of ITB Berlin – will be featured as a fashionable new destination. Penetration of the social spheres will be the subject dealt with by Christine Petersen, President of TripAdvisor for Business, in an interview with the television presenter Claudia Kleinert, to examine communication and booking behaviour in the age of social media. Technological changes and their impact will be covered by Dr. Bernd Fauser, Head of Global Travel Top Accounts, Google.
Admission to the ITB Berlin Convention is included in the price of trade visitor and exhibitor tickets. For the first time trade visitors and exhibitors can also attend PhoCusWright@ITB at no additional cost. This year PhoCusWright, the internationally recognized American market research organization and consultancy specializing in the travel sector, will be dealing with the subject of “Marketplace Chaos: Spotlight on Technology and Innovation”. A new addition to the programme will be the New Media Summit in Hall 7.1c on 10 March 2011. Bloggers from all over the world will be joining with PhoCusWright analysts to discuss current trends on the travel market.
