ITB Berlin 2015 Comes to a Successful Close

The 49th edition of ITB Berlin was once again a huge success with record highs in exhibitor numbers. From 4 to 8 March 2015, on a display area covering 26 halls, 10,096 exhibitors from 186 countries offered visitors a representative overview of travel products and services from around the world and of growth-intensive niche markets.

More than two-thirds of the exhibitors showcasing their products and services in the 26 halls on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds were from abroad. Overall, more than 100,000 trade visitors attended the world’s largest travel trade show.

On the weekend, members of the general public were able to book their holidays directly with exhibitors. The focus was on Mongolia, the official partner country of the show. In Hall 26c, on an area occupying twice that of last year’s event, 30 exhibitors from Mongolia had information about their products and services and in Hall 4.1 they were exhibiting sustainable tourism products.

In a large yurt at the southern entrance to the show, Mongolian hospitality awaited visitors to ITB Berlin. This year, in partnership with National Geographic and for the first time, ITB Berlin presented the World Legacy Awards in recognition of sustainable tourism projects.

According to Dr. Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH: “ITB Berlin is a strong marketplace and provides the international travel industry with an ideal platform for negotiating and doing business. In turbulent times and against the backdrop of a weak euro and uncertainty in the wake of terrorism and worldwide conflicts this is a particularly valuable and important aspect.”

In 2014, according to estimates by Messe Berlin, business concluded by exhibitors amounted to 6.5 billion euros. “This year we have continued to expand the already well-established ITB Buyers Circle and will be holding the first Buyer Seller Speed Dating event in an aim to give exhibitors’ business an extra sales boost. Furthermore, the ITB Convention debated all the important industry topics. The industry’s largest convention is an indispensable knowledge platform that highlights best practices as well as exclusive survey results and the latest tourism topics“, Christian Göke added.

850 buyers representing the business travel, MICE and leisure travel sectors were accepted to join the ITB Berlin Buyers Circle. Their spending budgets were between 100,000 and over 10 million euros. Many of them were from abroad. Close to 80 percent were from European countries and around eight percent were from the Middle East. Seven percent of the buyers were from North America.

This year the ITB Speed Networking event took place for the first time, on Thursday, 5 March 2015 in the Marshall Haus, where 300 previously registered exhibitors were able to present their products to buyers. Every one of the available places was booked up within a single day. The exhibitors were from all parts of the world and the tourism sector, including the hospitality industry, destinations and other areas such as adventure travel.

The sharing economy was a key topic at the ITB Berlin Convention, where seven events were highlighting the challenges and the prospects for the tourism industry. The ITB Future Day debated the future of commercial aviation and of the online travel market. At the numerous ITB Hospitality Day sessions experts were highlighting the security problems that hotel managers must look out for and looking at the lifestyle experience that budget and luxury hotels have to offer. This year the ITB Hospitality Day celebrated its tenth anniversary. At the ITB Destination Days, Mongolia, the partner country of the show, highlighted the potential of market niche tourism.

The ITB Convention has now established itself as an important place for obtaining knowledge. This year’s program featured four surveys that were commissioned specifically for ITB Berlin. In an exclusive empirical survey, Travelzoo and ITB Berlin investigated consumer price awareness and discovered that for 60 percent of Germans the holiday experience took priority ahead of the cost.

More than 5,000 potential interviewees in North America, China, Germany, the UK, France and Spain were asked about their holiday preferences. Results showed that among wellness tourists the holiday experience had priority, whereas price considerations more often had to do with transport. At the ITB Marketing and Distribution Day Richard Singer, managing director of Europe Travelzoo, were commenting the findings and offering advice on how to maximize profits in the travel industry.

At the ITB Marketing and Distribution Day Caroline Bremner, head of Travel Euromonitor International, spoke about the latest trends and the prospects for the sharing economy. In 2013 global private rentals amounted to 39 billion dollars. Between 2013 and 2018 this figure is expected to increase by 19 percent, reaching 46 billion dollars in 2018.