Gaining insights at the world's biggest travel trade show

Bachelor students Renata Csebi, Stefan Pirker, Philipp Jahnich and Sabrina Redl joined MU’s annual excursion to the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show, featuring more than 10,000 exhibitors from 180 countries and over 170,000 visitors. As first time attendees at this international exhibition, Philipp and Sabrina shared some of their impressions with us.

'‘The first day was used to really get an overview of the fairground with its 27 halls - we were astonished by the number and variety of exhibitors, coming from every branch of the industry, ‘’ said Philipp.

Sabrina was also impressed by the scale of the event, ’’every country one can imagine had its own booth at the fair, where one could get information about the main sights, accommodation, events, and attractions. It was a beautiful and colorful picture of diversity. Not only countries presented themselves, but also airlines, hotel groups and chains, cruises, travel agencies, tourism universities and many companies offering IT solutions in connection to tourism.

However the ITB is not only a trade show, it is also a convention with presentations and discussions of more than 2,000 speakers from all around world who share their inside knowledge and experience. Personally it was a great chance to listen to a number of diverse opinions and follow discussions on up to date topics. ‘’

‘’We got some very interesting insights in what employers may expect from the students and what we can expect from them after graduating,’’ added Philipp.

The students were invited to the annual Global Hotel Alliance Customer Event at the Adlon Kempinski Hotel in Berlin’s city center.

Philipp described it, ‘’this get-together represents one of the most exclusive events around the ITB and we were privileged to meet some very influential people of the tourism industry, like the CEO of the Global Hotel Alliance, Chris Hartley.’’

He would heartily recommend the ITB - ‘’to all current and future students, I can only advise to take this unique opportunity to visit the world's leading travel trade show, meet exciting and interesting people, get an insight in the variety of the industry and after all have lots of fun in one of the most vibrant and colorful cities in the world.’’

‘’All in all it was a great experience for me. I could get a better overview of the tourism and travel market, visit Berlin, and was a guest at one of the best parties in the city, ‘’ agreed Sabrina.

In addition to organizing activities for the students, Prof. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher moderated the TourCert awards ceremony during the ITB. She is co-chair of the TourCert certification board which recognizes tourism businesses such as travel agencies and tour operators with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) certification. For the first time this year, hotels were certified with the TourCert CSR label.

Dagmar Lund-Durlacher (left), with Prof. Dr. Kelly Bricker (middle), co-chair of TourCert, and an awarded tour operator at the TourCert Awards Ceremony