Albania inspires all the senses

ITB Berlin 2025 opened on Monday evening with an impressive gala by the host country Albania. With more than 5,800 exhibitors from 170 countries and attendance expected to reach the 100,000 mark, ITB Berlin is the world' largest travel trade show. Despite the geopolitical and economic challenges after business slowed due to the pandemic, the tourism industry is on a stable growth trajectory. Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner praised tourism as one of the best ways to counter racism and isolation. Dr. Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, described cultural dialogue as a key driver of global progress. Albania's Prime Minister, His Excellency Edi Rama, promised future tourists unrivalled hospitality, for which a term had already been coined: "Albanity".

Featuring folklore groups, dancing and contemporary local music, including the Albanian contribution to the European Song Contest, the gala explored the scenery, cities and tourist opportunities of the country in the western Balkans.

‘The World of Travel Lives Here’

Tobias praised the trade show and the accompanying ITB Berlin Convention as the most important meeting place for discussions and presenting tourism industry innovations and trends worldwide. Its slogan in 2025 is ’The World of Travel Lives Here’.

Rama: Albania is a tourism powerhouse

The prime minister said that Albania had developed from a hidden gem to a tourist powerhouse in only a short space of time. The saying that the house of an Albanian family belongs to "God and their guest" describes a sense of hospitality that is deeply rooted in local people’s consciousness. Rama called it “Albanity“, a combination of the country's name and "hospitality". Together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, his country led the rankings in tourism growth, "even without a FIFA World Cup or Mecca", he said. He praised German tourists for staying longer and eating and drinking more than the average visitor.

Wegner: Freedom and diversity are more than just trends

Referring to the current global situation, Berlin’s governing mayor said that freedom, diversity and openness were "more than just trends“. Expressing his general satisfaction with the steady growth in tourism numbers, he added that developments in Berlin too were pointing in the right direction again, namely upwards. The Federal Government's Tourism Coordinator Dieter Janecek said that Germany, whose citizens were "travel champions", had a high level of responsibility to make travelling carbon-neutral.