Corporate
Social
Responsibility

Here are some program highlights:

• ITB Responsible Destination Day
• Tourism for Sustainable Development Day (powered by BMZ)
• Empowerment Days (incl. Indigenous Travel, Gender Equality, LGBTQ+ & Diversity, Animal Welfare + Female Social Entrepreneurship)
• CSR-in-Tourism-Day

ITB-powered Awards:

• ITB LGBTQ+ Pioneer Award
• ITB Medical Tourism Award
• ITB Book Awards (including the award for books in the category "Sustainability in Tourism")

ITB-supported Awards:

• Celebrating Her Awards (organized in cooperation with the International Institute for Peace in Tourism / IIPT India)
• TO DO! Awards für Community-based Tourism (organized by the Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. )
• Sustainable Top 100 Destinations Awards (organized by the Green Destinations Group; ITB co-chair of the jury for its own ITB Earth Award.)

In addition, we collect donations and organize charity and fundraising events for carefully selected social aid projects (e.g. in connection with our respective ITB Berlin partner country or the IGLTA Foundation (ITB Diversity Gala).

The Blue Yonder

The innovative company practices and promotes sustainable and socially responsible travel. The Blue Yonder is a traditional "Sustainable Tourism Partner" of ITB Berlin. Both companies work effectively together to organize international networking events and workshops in the field of sustainable tourism. www.theblueyonder.com

A to Z of responsible tourism
With the help of our exhibitors and trade visitors, The Blue Yonder developed the A to Z of Responsible Tourism back in 2014, a vivid, still up-to-date map set guide that was presented as an interactive installation at ITB Berlin to explain the essence of Responsible Tourism.

Adventure Travel Conservation Fund

ITB is a member of ATTA, an international adventure travel industry organization with a mission to empower the global travel community to protect natural and cultural capital while creating economic benefits that benefit both the travel industry and destinations.

The Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) is the associated international nonprofit organization whose focus is to fund conservation projects on the ground around the world. The ATCF gives its members from the travel and outdoor industry the opportunity to directly support projects that are crucial for the preservation of an intact nature.

German Society for International Cooperation

GIZ supports the German government in achieving development policy goals and attaches great importance to tourism promotion. As part of its long-standing cooperation with ITB Berlin, GIZ regularly designs a trade fair stand and contributes to many events on sustainable tourism development.www.giz.de

IITP India

Celebrating Her - Global Awards for Empowered Women - An international award co-conceived by ITB Berlin and created by the International Institute for Peace in Tourism (IIPT), Branch Office India, to honor outstanding women who have played an outstanding role in promoting sustainable tourism. The award has been presented at ITB Berlin since 2016 and is an integral part of the CSR program.

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

ITB Berlin is an active PATA member and supports the PATA Committee of Sustainability and Social Responsibilities, which works to build sustainable and socially responsible tourism in the Asia-Pacific region. www.pata.org

UNWTO

As a member of the world's largest tourism organization UNWTO, ITB Berlin supports the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) throughout the tourism value chain.

Atmosfair

As a partner of atmosfair, the ITB Berlin team has been offsetting all business flights and traveling climate neutrally since 2008. We also promote the idea of CO2 offsetting to customers and business partners as an important multiplier. Those who have not already offset their flight when booking can do so at the atmosfair stand at ITB Berlin or on our website. www.atmosfair.de

For example, ITB Berlin supports a project of the ADATS Women for Sustainable Development & Agricultural Development & Training Society in Bagepalli, India, which finances the construction of small biogas plants. This can replace traditional fireplaces, relieve the environment through less CO², stop deforestation and protect the inhabitants from harmful smoke. In this video, another biogas project is presented.

Berlin Aids Help

As part of its social commitment, ITB Berlin also supports the Berlin Aidshilfe during the year. For years, Aidshilfe has provided information at ITB on the subject of "SAFER Travel" and twice won 1st prize in the "Best Exhibitor Award" of the Cologne Business School in the category "NGOs".

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation in Tourism (in short: Child Protection Code) was developed in 1998 by the child protection organization ECPAT, which is active in 75 countries worldwide, in cooperation with Scandinavian tour operators and the UNWTO. It is now actively supported internationally by around 1,000 tourism companies, associations and umbrella organizations in over 40 countries. ITB Berlin signed it in 2011, and "The Code", an organization founded by ECPAT, UNICEF and UNWTO, has introduced transparent guidelines and reporting procedures for implementing the child protection criteria. ITB's CSR Officer, Rika Jean-Francois, was a member of the Board of Directors of The Code International for many years. See The Code flyer for more information. www.thecode.org

ECPAT

The ECPAT campaign Protect Children from Exploitation in Travel and Tourism also receives special support from ITB. The working group supports the protection of children against sexual exploitation as a local partner in Germany. Together with ITB Berlin and other partners, an action plan has been developed. Measures include the annual sponsorship of a Child Protection Code booth at ITB Berlin and ITB Asia to raise awareness, as well as the publication of the reporting button of the German Reporting Centre for Suspected Cases www.nicht-wegsehen.net and the European counterpart www.dontlookaway.report.For more information www.ecpat.de

Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism

ITB Berlin is a founding member of the "Human Rights in Tourism Roundtable" and signed the public commitment to its principles in 2014. We want to draw attention to the issue of human rights and encourage all exhibitors to support the "Commitment to Human Rights in Tourism" developed as a management standard for the travel industry.
Tourism also has negative sides that cannot be ignored. Our global industry must work closely together to fight child labor, human trafficking and discrimination of all kinds.
www.humanrights-in-tourism.net.

IGLTA

ITB Berlin is committed to standing up for human rights in tourism. This also means supporting diversity and treating Gay & Lesbian Travel (LGBTQ+ Travel) as an equal segment. ITB Berlin is a member of the IGLTA (International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association) and also supports its non-profit IGLTA Foundation. The CSR Officer of ITB Berlin is a member of the Board of Directors.

TO DO Award of the Study Group for Tourism and Development

ITB Berlin is a jury member and host of the annual award ceremony of the international TO DO! Award (competition for socially responsible tourism) of the Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung (study group for tourism and development). Its "hecklers" - critical talks on current tourism topics - are hosted by ITB Berlin, as is the award ceremony for the TOURA D'OR film competition. www.todo-contest.org

Young Euro Classic

Once a year, international youth orchestras meet at the Konzerthaus Berlin to make music in the summer. Here, outstanding artistic achievements are combined with the commitment of young people. . The Young Euro Classics are an important cultural event and a lighthouse project for international understanding and the promotion of young talent that transcends borders. ITB Berlin supports this unique festival and invites you to attend the concerts. www.youngeuroclassic.de

The Global Ecotourism Network

ITB Berlin is part of the Global Ecotourism Network (GEN), an organization that brings together ecotourism associations and networks, destinations, indigenous peoples, international suppliers, professionals and academics worldwide to strengthen the ecotourism industry, provide advocacy, advice and thought leadership, and stimulate innovation and authenticity. GEN sees itself as a vital resource to evaluate ecotourism implementation practices and to disseminate realistic trends, applied research and experience-based studies.

DRV Sustainability Committee

ITB is an active member of the DRV's Sustainability Committee.

Global Sustainable Tourism Council

ITB Berlin is a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), a worldwide initiative to promote sustainable tourism efforts. The GSTC is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit council that expands understanding and access to sustainable tourism practices; helps identify and generate markets for sustainable tourism; declares and advocates for a set of universal principles defined by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. These criteria, a set of voluntary principles that provide a framework for sustainability for tourism businesses around the world, are the cornerstone of our initiative. The CSR Officer of ITB Berlin is a member of the Board of Directors. For further information please visit www.gstcouncil.org.

Sozialhelden

Supporting Sozialhelden e.V., a network of volunteers who want to make people aware of social problems and encourage them to rethink, is an important task for ITB Berlin. At www.wheelmap.org, for example, visitors can find, mark and rate wheelchair-accessible locations worldwide.

National Geographic

ITB Berlin and National Geographic Traveler jointly presented the "World Legacy Awards" from 2015 to 2017. Pioneering sustainable tourism projects were honored in five categories - and recognized at a festive awards ceremony at ITB Berlin. www.nationalgeographic.com/worldlegacyawards

A World For Travel (Evora Forum)

A World For Travel (Evora Forum), is scheduled for September 16 and 17, 2021 in Portugal and engages stakeholders from a wide range of interests to identify and respond to threats to tourism development. The aim is to take initiatives to transform the tourism offer to meet climate, digitalization, health and social demands, set milestones and create a common platform for sharing best practices and perspectives. https://www.aworldfortravel.org/

Messe Berlin - Environmental protection

Energy

• 2 combined heat and power plants on the grounds of Messe Berlin are an economical and environmentally friendly source of energy.
• More than 30% of Messe Berlin's electricity requirements are generated by environmentally friendly cogeneration.
• The exhibition halls are equipped with heat recovery systems, i.e. all residual heat is used and is not lost to the atmosphere
• Messe Berlin adheres strictly to its energy-saving policy

Water

The grounds of Messe Berlin have numerous rainwater infiltration systems that allow rainwater to be returned to the groundwater after natural purification

Waste

• Waste separation
• Recycling
• Messe Berlin has switched all its letterhead and copy paper to FSC paper.

Mobility and regionality

• Messe Berlin's exhibition grounds are conveniently located in the middle of Germany's largest public transport network. Underground and S-Bahn stations as well as bus stops are located at the entrance areas, enabling exhibitors and visitors to travel quickly, conveniently and in an environmentally friendly manner.
• In cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, we recommend traveling to our trade fairs by train with a particularly inexpensive event ticket.
• We recommend that exhibitors and visitors use public transport with the best connections in each case, and for some of our events we also offer a combined ticket.
• The vehicles in the fleet throughout the Group are certified to Euro standards and equipped with environmental badges; company bicycles are also available.
• For production inquiries within Germany we pay attention to short transport routes, for productions in Asia we prefer sea freight.

Catering

Ecological principles apply in the catering area of our subsidiary Capital Catering GmbH (CCG):

• Only reusable dishes are used as standard; if disposable dishes are expressly requested, compostable dishes and wooden cutlery are used.
• All rinsing lines are equipped with water-saving osmosis systems
• Pre-portioned, individually packaged goods are dispensed with
• Water dispensers are preferred over recyclable PET bottles
• Organic products and only regional / seasonal products are available for selection
• Energy-saving kitchen machines are purchased and used

The majority of Messe Berlin events make a stand against food and resource waste and for people in need: they donate the leftover food to the Berliner Tafel.

Energy Concept - Climate Targets Berlin 2030

The climate targets of the state of Berlin 2030 aim to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 60 % by 2030 compared to 1990. Messe Berlin is making its contribution to this and setting the course for a new energy concept that relies on 50 % regenerative energy, 25 % highly efficient combined heat and power generation and 100 % green electricity from external sources.

By reporting on the standard of the German Sustainability Code (DNK), Messe Berlin shows its stakeholders how the sustainability contribution is developing positively.

Messe Berlin is also setting an example: As a radio tower operator, it supports the global community action Earth Hour of the nature conservation organization WWF and switches off the radio tower lights for one hour on the day of action, together with millions of people worldwide and numerous buildings in thousands of cities. The aim of this campaign is to send a strong signal for the protection of our planet across the globe.

Messe Berlin - Social commitment

• At Messe Berlin, we are committed to holistic diversity management. That's why it's important to us to fly the flag on the subject of sexual orientation as well. Our membership in the "Alliance against Homophobia" underscores our commitment to an open-minded society.
• As a signatory to the "Diversity Charter", Messe Berlin is also committed to actively implementing diversity within the company. The principles of the charter aim to create a working environment that is free of prejudice. All employees should be valued - regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or ideology, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity.