Come March and the travel fraternity from across the globe will converge in Berlin to visit the world’s largest travel trade show ITB Berlin. A preview to this global event.
As ITB Berlin returns back as an in-person event after a gap of 3 years the travel community are quite excited. Scheduled to take place from 7 - 9 March this year it will be a pure B2B event. While previously it used to be a 5 day event with both B2B and B2C audiences, ITB Berlin 2023 will be for only 3 days a pure B2B event. While we spoke to a few exhibitors we got a mixed response with quite a few preferring a 5 day event with B2C presence on last two days and a few others feeling in a fast-paced world 3 days B2B is good enough.
Since 1966, ITB Berlin has grown substantially starting with nine exhibitors from five countries (Egypt, Brazil, Federal Republic of Germany, Guinea and Iraq) in 2019 it had 10,000+ exhibitors from 181 countries attracting 160.000 visitors of which 113.500 were trade visitors.
Despite its size and uniquely diverse range of products and services covering 180+ countries and territories, ITB Berlin is clearly structured: In addition to a geographical breakdown by destination, the halls are also divided by market segments on the most important tourism tracks e.g. Business Travel, MICE, Travel Technology / Mobile Travel Services, Technology, Tours & Activities (TTA), Cultural Tourism, LGBTQ+ Travel, Youth & Adventure Travel, Responsible Tourism, Medical Tourism, Luxury Tourism and Career in Tourism.
Technology, Innovations and startups
The strong appearance by the Travel Technology segment reflects the huge innovative force of the tourism industry. The travel tech providers are from over 30 countries and represented in four halls (Halls 5.1, 6.1, 7.1c and 8.1.), where they will present their latest products and ideas for the entire tourism industry. For the second time, the Technology, Tours & Activities (TTA) segment will be represented live at the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show. The TTA marketplace in Hall 4.1 is an important meeting place for tour managers, operators, technology specialists, travel destinations and agencies. This is where trade visitors can find both startups and established companies who are presenting their innovative products and the latest survey findings.
On all three days of the show on the ITB eTravel Stage in Hall 6.1, established companies and aspiring startups will be represented in the role of ideas factories for tech-driven innovation and digital transformation in the tourism and hotel industries.
A premiere at the ITB Berlin Convention 2023 will be the "Board of Experts", whose members will each be responsible for one or more of the planned 15 to 20 thematic tracks. Under the motto "Mastering Transformation", we will be looking at buzzwords such as skills shortage, climate change, post-covid and energy transition. You will find numerous answers to these topics in our range of topic tracks at the ITB Berlin Convention.
For example, the "eTravel Track" is dedicated to technology-driven innovation and digital transformation in the travel industry and how to productively harness it. The "Marketing & Distribution Track" will gather leading thought leaders from the travel and hospitality industry to provide a global update on how leaders can stay competitive and successfully navigate the transformation processes ahead.
The "ITB Future Track" will delve into the economic and political developments of tomorrow to find out which sustainable trends will put future tourism on the road to success.
A wide range of topics from the fields of travel technology, marketing & sales, future travel, MICE, sustainability and social responsibility and more await participants from all over the world at the ITB Berlin Convention 2023.
HOME OF LUXURY by ITB
A new luxury travel segment providers of luxury accommodation, transport, services and products will provide a special glimpse of the luxury tourism market and a straightforward themed look at luxury forms of travel. Exhibitors representing luxury hotels including the Spanish enterprise Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, Severin’s Resort & Spa and SCHLOSS Fleesensee / BEECH Resort Fleesensee / MAREMÜRITZ Yachthafen Resort etc. alongwith Italian travel agency FUORITINERARIO and Quark Expeditions.
At the Marshall Haus at Messe Berlin, four separate exhibition areas entitled The Garden, The Library, The Nest and The Gallery will be devoted to individual forms of luxury tourism. The open networking event for media members will take place on 8 March from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. and on 9 March from 11.45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the exhibition areas The Garden, The Library and The Gallery at the Marshall Haus.
Partial Indian Exhibitors
Adventures Overland India; Amritara Hotels & Resorts Pvt Ltd.; CGH Earth; Ebix Travels Private Limited; Evolve Back Resorts; Trans India Holidays PVT Ltd.; Gainwell Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.; Goa - Department of Tourism; Indian Chakraa Tours; Indo Asia Tours; Inis Venture Pvt. Ltd.; Karnataka Tourism; Kerala Tourism; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art; Le Passage to India Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd.; Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board; Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.; Ebix Travel & Holiday Ltd; Namaste Tours Pvt. Ltd.; Orange County Resorts & Hotels Ltd.; Orange - The Destination Management Company; Orient Express Travels & Tours; Qtech Software Pvt. Ltd.; QuadLabs Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; Sanyog Gupta Voyages; Shiv Vilas Resorts (PVT) Ltd.; Shreyas Retreat; Sita; Somatheeram Ayurveda Group; Somatheeram Ayurvedic Hospital & Yoga Centre Pvt Ltd.; Swades Tours and Travels; The Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Hotels); Tamil Nadu Tourism; The Blue Yonder; The Nattika Beach Ayurveda Resort; Tripmax; Veena World; Vervotech and ZentrumHub.
The young Deborah Rothe (just 31 years) has taken over as Exhibition Director and Project Manager of ITB Berlin. She replaces David Ruetz (54), who has become Senior VP of Travel + Logistics at Messe Berlin, in which role he oversees the ILA Berlin Airshow as well as the global ITB brand family, along with its strategic development.
Rothe has been employed at Messe Berlin since 2011 and joined ITB Berlin in 2014. From August 2019, as Head of Business Development & Sales, her focus was on developing ITB Berlin and marketing exhibitor and visitor business for the show. She was also instrumental in driving the B2B networking event series TRVLX by ITB in European markets, which in future will continue to be an established part of the ITB portfolio.
“With Deborah Rothe, I am delighted to be appointing an experienced colleague for this important task at ITB Berlin. With her long years of experience at ITB Berlin, not only does she know the event extremely well, she also has in-depth industry knowledge”, said David Ruetz, Senior Vice President, Messe Berlin.
“As Exhibition Director of the World’s Largest Tourism Trade Show, I look forward to the tasks and challenges ahead. Together with our global ITB brand family and ITB Berlin we provide an impetus for many areas of the travel and tourism industry. That is why new concepts, innovation and ongoing development are essential. I look forward to driving this effort with the team“, said Deborah Rothe, Exhibition Director, ITB Berlin.
