Issues facing global tourism such as a shortage of skilled workers, climate justice, and the impact of artificial intelligence, will feature at ITB Berlin which opens today.
The ITB Berlin Convention 2024 will bring together 400 key speakers from international companies to discuss new strategies for the travel industry in more than 200 sessions
The convention will take place from March 5 to 7 at the Berlin exhibition grounds and will cover topics such as digitalization and artificial intelligence. ITB, Internationale Tourismus-Börse is a B2B event which attracted around 91,000 trade visitors in 2023, including leading tour operators, travel agents, airlines, travel media and influencers from Germany and from all over the world.
Leading industry experts will discuss challenges facing the airline and cruise industry, market trends, and technological advancements
Key speakers at the convention include CEOs of Booking Holdings and Airbnb, as well as representatives from Microsoft and Google
The convention will also focus on the responsibility of tourism for biodiversity and climate justice, with top speakers presenting sustainable solutions and initiatives for more climate justice.
The carrier & cruise stage speakers on Tuesday include such Nadia Azale (NDC Change Management Director, AirFrance-KLM Group), Michele Francioni (Chief Energy Transition Officer, MSC Cruises S.A.), and Chris Ramm (Vice President Global Enterprise Airline Partners, Travelport) will discuss industry-relevant developments and present best cases.
Glenn Fogel (CEO, of Booking Holdings) will speak about prospects and technology in tourism under the title “Leadership, Innovation and the Future of Travel” on the future stage. Karim Bagga (Engineering Group Manager, Travel & AI Microsoft) will discuss engineering the future: how GenAi and Microsoft copilot bring a new intelligence to travel”. Stefan Ebener (Head of Customer Engineering, Google) will also take a look at the mega topic of artificial intelligence in his presentation “how GenAI is changing the digital world – from future tech to daily business”. Under the title “how AirBnb is unlocking new opportunities for growth”, Dave Stephenson (Chief Business Officer, Airbnb) will explain the booking platform’s current plans.
Speakers at the responsible tourism stage on Wednesday include Bruno Oberle (President World Resources Forum Association and Former Director General International Union for Conservation of Nature), Külli Kraner (Head of Tourism, Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications), and Ingo Burmester (CEO, DER Touristik), who will present “Pioneering the Transition towards Net Zero: Climate Footprints Unveiled” initiatives for more climate justice.
The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) is a co-host of the ITB Convention 2024. Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) is the track sponsor of the Tour Operator & Travel Sales Track on the Blue Stage. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is a partner of the Responsible Tourism Track on the Orange Stage). Global Travel Tech is the track sponsor of the eTravel Track on the eTravel Stage. Google is the Track Sponsor of the Marketing & Distribution Track on the Orange Stage. Lonely Planet is the track sponsor of the Future Track on the Orange Stage. Studios Reisen München is the session sponsor of the Responsible Tourism Track on the Orange Stage. TikTok is the Session Sponsor of the Marketing &Distribution Track on the Orange Stage.
Tourism Ireland is hosting 21 tourism companies on its stand conducting 600 commercial meetings and taking the opportunity to meet with 100 media during ITB, to pitch story ideas for the island of Ireland. In 2023, Tourism Ireland’s publicity programme in Germany generated 260m opportunities through broadcast, print and digital media. Participating groups included
- Abbey Group
- AC Tours Ireland Ltd
- Aer Lingus
- Aloft Dublin City
- Castle Collection
- Experience Gaelic Games
- Hinch Distillery
- Historic Royal Palaces / Hillsborough Castle and Gardens
- Joe O’Reilly Ireland DMC
- Kleemann Tours
- Loughview Leisure Group
- McKeever Hotels
- MHL Hotel Collection
- Moloney & Kelly
- O’Donoghue Ring Collection
- Pearse Lyons Distillery
- Railtours Ireland First Class
- TIFCO Hotel Group
- Tour Partner Group
- Trigon Hotels
- White Hotel Group
Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive Designate of Tourism Ireland, said: “We are delighted to attend ITB Berlin this week with tourism businesses from the island of Ireland. Germany is one of the largest outbound travel markets in the world and it is the third-largest overseas market for tourism to the island of Ireland. We think we have plenty to offer German visitors and we’re excited to win more business at ITB Berlin, helping rebuild momentum in the post-Covid era. We know Germans are active when they holiday with us, with 92% visiting historical sites and 58% participating in outdoor activities. Together with our partners from Ireland, we will be showcasing ease of access and places to stay, as well as culture, history and sports. Relationships forged and deals set in motion at ITB Berlin can help to attract German visitors to the island of Ireland for the years ahead.”
Tourism Ireland is also partnering with Culture Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs to leverage this year’s Zeitgeist Irland 24, a yearlong programme of Irish arts taking place in Germany in 2024.
