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ITB Berlin 2023: News highlights from ITB-Wednesday and Thursday
How local tour providers can gain a foothold on the German travel market
What business opportunities and prospects for joint ventures exist for tour operators in East Africa? This question was investigated by representatives of business and tourism organisations at the City Cube on Wednesday during the fair. In the presence of African joint venture partners, including a delegation accompanying the Ethiopian tourism minister, they described possible ways in which these countries can profit from the expansion of long haul tourism. more
Vacation paradise, partly due to disbanding its armed forces
Tourism minister of Costa Rica presents travel entirely in a socio-ecological context
“We have much more than just sun and beaches,” was the proud statement by William Rodríguez, minister of tourism for Costa Rica, announcing that his country, unlike many Caribbean states, has again attained its pre-coronavirus visitor numbers. In 2022 they totalled 2.35 million, and according to the next five year plan, this figure will rise to 3.8 million by 2027, while in no way endangering the country’s status an internationally recognised example of sustainable tourism. Germany, with 80,000 (2022) is the most important source of tourists in Europe for Costa Rica, ahead of the United Kingdom and France. more
Heliskiing and helibiking, ski tours and more: adrenalin guaranteed
For fans of adventure tours and mountains Georgia is the place to be. A modern infrastructure to international standards meets a spectacular natural environment: high snow-covered mountains, ravines with fast-flowing mountain rivers, lush green forests, alpine eco-systems, palm-lined beaches and cliffs and caves. At ITB Berlin 2023 tourism experts from Georgia offered an insight into the adventure tours in their country which besides hiking, heliskiing and riding has a lot to offer. more
How wellness offers reach new target groups
Among younger travellers too the pandemic has created a new awareness of health offers. During discussions at ITB Berlin, examples from Romania, India and Croatia show how new target groups can be attracted and even mud baths can be promoted as sexy. more
Wheelchair trekking in Patagonia and educational stays in an Inca village
ITB Berlin presents and supports two outstanding social tourism enterprises
On Wednesday at ITB Berlin two social enterprises represented by women, and the ideas behind their establishment, were presented by Rika Jean-Francois, CSR representative of ITB Berlin, and Prof. Dr. Claudia Brözel from the College for Sustainable Development, Eberswalde. more
From the North Cape to Portugal by pedal power
European cycling route network takes shape
How about an 11,500 km long bicycle tour along Europe’s Atlantic coast. The route from the North Cape to Portugal is part of the EuroVelo cycling route network which, driven by European institutions, has been in the making for over 20 years. more
Efficient management of reservations and payment
How small and medium-sized tourism businesses can benefit from digitalisation
Good news for tour operators and booking platforms: dealing with different currencies and cross-border payments has now become much easier thanks to digitalisation. Speaking at ITB Berlin, Ted Clements, CEO of WeTravel, offered some ideas to small and medium-sized travel businesses and showed how everyday operations can be managed more efficiently. Reservations and payments in particular can be made easier with tools such as WeTravel. more
Strong women as examples and role models
Celebrating Her Awards for outstanding achievements by tourism professionals
It is indeed a good tradition: for the last six years ITB Berlin and the International Institute for Peace in Tourism (IIPT) have annually presented three Celebrating Her Awards, highlighting the role model of successful women in the tourism industry and honouring their long-standing commitment. This year the three awards were presented in several categories: Tourism Resilience, Tourism Leadership and Tourism Advocacy. The winners were Carol Hay from London, Rupinder Brar from India and Iaia Pedemonte from Italy, who as a freelance journalist a number of years ago set up the Gender Responsible Tourism Association (GRT). more
Secure bookings thanks to Blockchain
New Web3 applications for the travel industry
Anke Hsu, Head of Business Development at Chain4Travel, presented Camino Networks at ITB Berlin. This is a blockchain technology that enables travel companies to exploit the benefits of Web3. This product offers a secure travel booking infrastructure: processes can be more automated, while transactions are more secure and cheaper. more
Travel Excellence from Costa Rica makes the running
Debut for the Equality in Tourism Award at ITB Berlin 2023
The Equality in Tourism Award, presented for the first time on International Women’s Day at ITB Berlin 2023, aims to draw global attention to gender equality in tourism. Three candidates made the final – the award went to the tour operator Travel Excellence from Costa Rica, followed by Adventure Women from the USA and Etur from Ecuador. more
Feelings as an important driving force for innovation
With the progress being made in digitalisation and automation many companies see themselves confronted by elementary changes. Frequently it is not facts but feelings that prevent these processes from being adopted. In her keynote speech on the Green Stage at ITB Berlin the life coach and trainer Daniela Roeske explained why emotional transformation and resilience are so importance, and how they can succeed. more
Now the employers have to apply
Shift of power on the labour market very evident in tourism
The power structure on the labour market in the hotel and travel sector has changed fundamentally since the pandemic. With the first signs of market recovery in February 2021 there has been a sharp rise in the number of job vacancies, while jobseekers’ numbers remain at a low level. more
Wellness needs TikTok and Insta
Generation Z with high demands on hotels and catering
The post-pandemic wellness hotel trade is reliant on social media. This was the main finding from a survey of guests and hoteliers, presented at ITB Berlin 2023 by Michael Altewischer, chief executive of Wellness-Hotels und Resorts GmbH, and Roland Fricke, founding partner and marketing representative of the portal beauty24.de. more
Climate change threatens many destinations
In order to save civilisation attention is turning to durable wooden structures
Achieving net zero by 2050 will not be enough to save human civilisation. In order to keep Earth habitable it was necessary to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. This could be achieved if as many buildings as possible, including hotels, event venues and airports, were in future built with wood. more
Rainforest conservation, green teams and night trains
Best practices in Malaysia, the Azores and Austria
Talking about climate protection is one thing, but actually realising one’s goals is even more important. On Thursday at the ITB Berlin Convention, together with tourism industry practitioners and experts, Xenia zu Hohenlohe and Graeme Jackson discussed how destinations and transport companies could contribute and what best practices already exist. more
New approaches to the marketing of accommodation
Important trends in booking behaviour
Search engines, booking platforms or directly on the hotel web site, there are multiple ways of using the internet to book accommodation. Many hotels would like it to be easier to use these channels. more
More feeling at the destination
Tourism must move from a purely economic to a social orientation
Responsible tourism must place a greater emphasis on the social components and move away from a purely economic orientation. This was one of the lessons from the latest crises, according to Professor Dr. Harald Pechlaner, professor of tourism at the Catholic University Eichstätt and head of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, in his lecture at the ITB Convention on Thursday at the trade fair. more
Business success through well thought out environmental and social policy
ESG criteria are becoming increasingly important in the hotel trade too
In the hospitality sector too a company’s overall success and resilience are increasingly linked to its performance in the areas of the environment, social affairs and business management (Environmental Social Governance / ESG). more
Climate emergency: how do destinations become more resistant?
Cooperation is needed to safeguard the future of climate protection measures
Crises caused by climate change are becoming more frequent, with a direct and severe impact on destinations. Are there ways that could help to make destination areas more resistant? What conceivable strategies are there to create a greater sense of responsibility towards the climate? These questions were examined by a panel of experts at ITB Berlin 2023. more
Taking responsibility for the supply chain
From a special interest subject to the centre of attention
Efforts to introduce corporate due diligence have been taking place since the 1990s, but often they only received little attention. Germany’s Supply Chain Act, which came into force in 2023, has changed all that. Due diligence has become a key topic of corporate management. That was the summary given by Dirk Meyer of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, speaking on Thursday at the ITB Berlin Convention. It was an assessment shared and welcomed by industry representatives including Laura Steden of DER Touristik and Manfred Häupl of Hauser Exkursionen. more
Climate protection is a human right
Studiosus interview with Fridays for Future and human rights activists
Climate protection and human rights are closely linked. In the Studiosus interview at ITB Berlin 2023 experts outlined their various perspectives and positions. Studiosus managing director Peter-Mario Kubsch: “The industry has begun to shift, but it is all going too slowly.“ Michael Windfuhr of the German Institute for Human Rights added: “Bold steps are needed that must be taken now. In ten years time it will be too late.” Luís von Randow, Fridays for Future spokesman: “In the end, only travelling less will help.“ more
ITB Newsroom and ITB Berlin News: the latest industry news, first-hand
Every day, journalists, bloggers and other interested visitors can find these news stories and many more from the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show in the ITB Newsroom and on ITB Berlin News. The ITB Newsroom is currently reporting in English and German on the highlights of this year’s event. ITB Berlin News has the latest industry news and stories from ITB Berlin 2023 in English only. Topics at the ITB Berlin Convention, the global travel industry’s leading thin tank, are also widely covered by the two news portals.
About ITB Berlin and the ITB Berlin Convention
ITB Berlin 2023 took place as a pure B2B event under the slogan ‘Open for Change’ from Tuesday, 7 March, to Thursday, 9 March. Since 1966, ITB Berlin has been the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show. The internationally renowned ITB Berlin Convention takes place parallel to the show and is held live on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
Additional information is available at www.itb.com and from the ITB Newsroom & Social Media.
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