Despite global crises, the industry displayed confidence at ITB Berlin 2024. The most important topics were the growing importance of AI, the shortage of skilled labour and climate justice.
The World’s Leading Travel Trade Show put a clear focus on shaping the future. Diverse and globally represented, more than 5,500 exhibitors from 170 countries illuminated the three business days, occupying all 27 exhibition halls at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
“ITB Berlin once again mirrored industry developments. The mood among exhibitors, visitors and speakers was very positive throughout. They generally agreed that people’s desire to travel is not just satisfying pent-up demand after the pandemic, but that it will remain basically stable. Neither inflation nor high energy prices appear to be curbing demand“, commented Dr. Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin.
Proof of the fact that the industry is a driving force for innovation was given not least by the ITB Berlin Convention, which took place parallel with the three-day show and featured high-profile attendees and a total of 400 leading international speakers at 200 sessions and 17 theme tracks discussing trends and innovations.
Tourism community remains on course for success
The ITB Buyers Circle with its 1,300 senior buyers served as an industry barometer and underlined the importance of the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show as a leading business platform. The findings reflected a positive mood throughout regarding the market situation and provided an optimistic outlook for business over the next six months.
Great interest from the media and politics
Around 3,200 accredited journalists from 103 countries and over 300 bloggers reported on ITB Berlin. The world’s leading tourism trade show was once again a meeting place for politicians and diplomats from all over the world. In addition to numerous delegations, almost 80 ministers and state secretaries as well as 72 ambassadors visited this year’s ITB Berlin.
ITB Berlin Convention underlines its role as a forward-looking thinktank
AI and its potential uses were a much-discussed topic. For the first time, the ITB Berlin Convention hosted a dedicated AI Track, which was very well received by the event’s 24,000 attendees. It was generally agreed that no organisation or company could any longer ignore AI.
In recent months, the invasion of Ukraine has been followed by another geo-political conflict in the Middle East, adding further uncertainty to the urgency of achieving sustainability. Ukraine, Israel and Palestine all exhibited at ITB Berlin. At Israel’s press conference the tourism minister promoted travel to Israel and appealed for travel warnings to be dropped.
Following the pandemic and compared with 2023, this was the first time the industry registered a positive trend in the Asian-Pacific region. One example was China, which celebrated its return as an exhibitor this year and now welcomes visitors from selected countries by fast-tracking their visas. All in all, the attendees at ITB Berlin were able to return home in positive expectation of this year’s developments and can look ahead to excellent business and a large volume of early bookings, especially for summer 2024.
A look ahead to ITB Berlin 2025: Host Country Albania
Albania, an emerging destination with great potential, is the host country of ITB Berlin 2025. The management of Messe Berlin and representatives of Albania officially sealed their partnership with the signing of an agreement on day two of ITB Berlin, following the announcement of their collaboration a few months ago.
The next ITB Berlin will take place as a B2B event again from Tuesday to Thursday, 4 to 6 March 2025 on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
