The 2015 edition of ITB Berlin concluded on March 8, 2015 with the visit of 115,000 trade visitors. Nepal’s participation in the fair was led by Secretary of the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Chairman of Nepal Tourism Board, Mr. Suresh Man Shrestha. The Nepalese delegation included Mr. Kashi Raj Bhandari, Director of NTB, Mr. Lila Bahadur Baniya, Senior Manager of NTB, Mr.Vinod Gautam, and Officer from the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Kundan Sharma, Officer of NTB and 21 Nepali Travel Trade companies.
ITB Berlin featured 10,096 exhibitors from 186 countries in 26 display halls showcasing a spectrum of tourism products and services from all the world over.
During the fair, NTB team interacted with international travel trade professionals and media and disseminated tourism information about Nepal. NTB’s representatives also met with top-notch tourism officials from Europe and different parts of the world. Among the top visitors to Nepal’s stand were Mr. Jurgen Klimke, Member of Parliament, Bundestag, Germany and The Secretary of Tourism of Maldives.
Several visitors to the stall showed keen interest to include Nepal in their holiday packages. Individual visitors sought information for personal and family visits and there were a tremendous amount of general queries on travelling to Nepal. As usual the Mt. Everest, the Himalayas and Lord Buddha were the subjects of prime interest. There were also a considerable amount of inquiries and interest shown on Eco friendly or responsible tourism. The general queries of visitors hovered around the best places to visit for first time visitors, security concerns, travel information, trekking information, hotel information, visa rules of Nepal, etc.
Nepal stand with a space of 152 sq. meters successfully depicted the unique tourism products of Nepali culture, nature and adventures. A Statue of Lord Buddha was placed in the middle of Nepal Stand and it was of prime interest to visitors. Visitors flocked to the stall to take pictures of Lord Buddha.
About ITB Berlin
during 5 bustling days between 4 and 8th of March 2015, some 115,000 trade visitors (2014: 114,000) travelled to the ITB, Berlin. The share of trade visitors from abroad increased to 43 per cent (2014: 40 per cent) in comparison to the figures of 2014. According to an estimate by Messe Berlin, the organizer of the show, the volume of sales at the world’s leading travel trade show increased from around 6.5 billion euros in 2014 to 6.7 billion euros.The ITB Berlin Convention registered record levels of attendance with almost 175,000 total visitors attending the fair this year. Decision-makers and opinion-formers debated the key topics concerning the travel industry at a total of 200 events which took place in eight auditoriums. Around 5,180 accredited journalists from 75 countries and some 350 bloggers from 29 countries reported on events at ITB Berlin. Politicians and diplomats from Germany and abroad were also present at the show.
ITB is a global platform for the worldwide travel trade professionals to meet, network, negotiate and conduct tourism business. As per the ITB’s official press release, the exhibition ground at Messe Berlin was fully booked with overwhelming participation segments like Travel Technology and Adventure & Sustainable Travel in addition to the regular travel exhibitors.
According to the post event press release of ITB, Dr. Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin said, “More than ever ITB Berlin fulfills the function of the world’s leading think tank and a shop window for the travel industry. This is where the opportunities and risks are debated and the potential impact of the sharing economy on the international travel industry is analyzed. Over the past few days ITB Berlin has provided further evidence of how important personal exchanges and meetings between people are for an industry that is increasingly dominated by the digital transition”.
The first 3 days from March 4-6 were reserved for trade encouraging business-to-business sessions among the participating travel trade counterparts while the last two days were open for public. The exhibition presented a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to German, European and other international tourism professionals.
Mongolia was the partner country of ITB 2015. The mileage Mongolia got because of being Partner Country was incredible. Nepal should also contemplate on showcasing its tourism strength by hosting as a partner country at the ITB in the near future.
