Indonesia and the Silk Road to take center stage at travel show
For five days in March, the biggest players in the travel industry are coming to ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show. With Indonesia as the official partner of the travel show, ITB Berlin will be opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time. The themes of this year include Silk Road tourism, eco travel, transformative hotel concepts, and travel trends among Generation Y.
Ever since 2004 International companies representing adventure tours and sustainable tourism have been exhibiting their products and services in Hall 4.1 at ITB Berlin. “What was once a niche product and the domain of a few specialists has now become one of the travel industry’s growth markets“, said Dr. Martin Buck, Vice President of the Competence Center Travel & Logistics, Messe Berlin, commenting on how the world’s largest travel trade show promotes forward-looking travel industry trends.
Under the slogan of “Celebrate Big Green 10“, the weekend of 9 and 10 March 2013 will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Adventure Tours at ITB Berlin. During the Open Days for the public a large stage wíll be hosting a variety of music and folk events. Celebrities will be giving autograph sessions and numerous events such as competitions, games and activities on the climbing wall and high ropes course will also be taking place. Visitors can also find out first-hand about the latest products and services the adventure tour and sustainable tourism market has to offer.
”Earth’s Wetlands and Geoparks – Celebrating Earth Heritage, Sustaining Local Communities“ will be the key theme of the eighth Pow-Wow, which takes place from 6 to 8 March 2013. Numerous sessions featuring high- profile speakers, panel discussions and workshops will provide trade visitors with an opportunity to exchange views with international travel experts, discuss the latest trends and meet people from all over the world. The three-day event will feature topics such as “Understanding the Environment“, ”Understanding China“ and ”Understanding Ireland“.
Key events will include a project under the heading of ”Building Partnerships among Tourism Professionals to Foster Sustainable Tourism“ and a special workshop entitled ”How to penetrate the German-speaking market”. Organised and moderated by WWF Germany and the Federal Nature Conservation Bureau (BfN), a session entitled “Experiencing diversity – winning over customers with bio-diversity “ will take place on Thursday, 7 March 2013. Leading tour operators such as Accor Hospitality Deutschland, REWE Touristik, ReNatour, Spreescouts, Aventerra and Europarc Deutschland will be taking a look behind the scenes, at how to conserve bio-diversity in tourism, at the obstacles involved, and examining how long-term commitment eventually pays off.
A brilliant multi-cultural introduction to this opening event titled ‘Indonesia, The World’s Heart of Wonders‘ will be provided by the Indonesian Conductor Aminoto Kosin honored with the “Oscar Peterson Award For Outstanding Musicianship” given by the Berklee college of Music, USA. Aminoto Kosin is proud to conduct the orchestra “Berlin string construction” and Indonesian traditional musicians from various regions. They will be followed by Indonesian singers, musicians and dancers, accompanied by multimedia shows featuring traditional aspects of the unique nature and culture of the world’s largest archipelago with its more than 17,000 islands. The partner country of ITB Berlin will then be inviting guests to an outstanding culinary experience at the subsequent gala reception, where Indonesia’s finest chefs will be demonstrating the diversity of their country’s exotic Asian cuisine.
