The ITB Berlin Convention is repositioning itself
The ITB Berlin Convention 2023 is taking shape. From 7 to 9 March 2023 at the leading convention of the international tourism industry, the focus of ITB Berlin will be on proven quality and numerous innovations. Next year’s convention will also focus on solutions surrounding digitalisation, sustainability and resilience, and for attendees from around the world will feature the latest best practices, as well as keynote speeches, panel discussions, interviews with experts and awards. It will cover the entire range of topics under the headings Travel Technology, Destinations, Marketing & Distribution, Future Travel, MICE, Business Travel, Transportation, Sustainability, Social Responsibility, Hospitality, Future Work and many others besides.
New event dates In 2023, unlike in previous years and parallel with the ITB Berlin trade show, the industry’s largest thinktank will for the first time begin a day early and run from Tuesday 7 to Thursday, 9 March. It will take place in Halls 7.1a and 7.1b as well as on the convention stages in Halls 6.1. and 3.1 on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. As usual, for exhibitors, trade visitors and the media, admission to the World’s Largest Travel Trade Show is included in a ticket to ITB Berlin.
Together with innovative partners, the ITB Berlin Convention remains the place for global trends For the first time the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show is collaborating with two new partners. Together with the event agency Beeftea and the tourism marketing specialists team neusta/ neusta Grafenstein, both from Berlin, ITB Berlin is once again making sure there will be a line-up of leading international speakers, who with their unique knowledge and latest insights will address the topics of most concern to the global travel industry.
Board of Experts: an experienced team of curators Also making its debut will be the Board of Experts, whose members will be responsible for one or more of the planned theme tracks. Taking place on their respective stages, the tracks will replace the themed days at previous events. ITB Berlin was able to secure curators as specialists in their relevant fields: Prof. Dr. Heinz-Dieter Quack, Professor for Destination Management at Ostfalia HaW, is responsible for the topics Future Travel, Destination Management and Future Work, supported by Prof. Dr. Harald Pechlaner, Professor for Tourism at the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Dirk Rogl, founder Travel. Commerce. Prof. Dr. Willy Legrand, professor at the International University of Applied Sciences, will be in charge of CSR/Resilience; Dr. Karoline Wiegerink, professor of City Hospitality, Hotelschool Den Haag, will be responsible for the Hospitality segment, Lea Jordan, co-founder of techtalk.travel, will be in charge of Digitalisation, Travel Technology and Startups; and Dr. Markus Heller, managing partner at Dr. Fried & Partner GmbH, will be responsible for Tour Operators, Travel Sales, Cruises, Carriers and Transformation Processes.
Not least, ITB Berlin with its world-renowned convention also relies on the specialist support of numerous other experts – the so-called “friends” of the convention. Currently, these include Charlotte Lamp-Davies, founder of A Bright Approach; Thomas Bömkes, managing director of Diversity Tourism GmbH, Marc Aeberhardt, founder and proprietor of Luxury Hotel & Spa Management Ltd. and Douglas Quinby, co-founder and CEO of Arival. They will be responsible among other things for Technology, Tours & Activities, Medical Tourism, Luxury Tourism, LGBTQ+, Commerce and Marketing. Many of them are already long-standing partners of the convention. Others will be announced soon.
Fascinating content, including in digital form: ITBxplore As in previous years, next year’s ITB Convention again awaits numerous attendees from around the world. Parallel with the in-person event in the German capital, 2023 will see the launch of the web and app-based digital platform ITBxplore, where users can stream selected content from stage events. Independent of the convention, preparations are under way for a hybrid studio and a whole series of virtual presentations, which users can also stream on ITBxplore. This content is not curated by the Board of Experts, instead is available to companies and organisations to allow them to present themselves to a wide audience. Further details will be announced soon.
