ITB Berlin to focus on Overtourism , ecological and social responsibility

TravelBizNews —

Berlin: Overtourism, integrating refugees and the financial viability of social tourism projects: these are just some of the key topics that this year’s ITB Berlin will examine under the ‘sustainability’ heading.

Experts from around the world will discuss key issues and possible solutions of tourism  on 7 – 9 March 2018.

“Our aim is to make use of the unique international platform that ITB offers to give sustainability and responsibility in tourism a voice“, said Rika Jean-Francois, CSR officer at ITB Berlin.

” Against a backdrop of climate change, growing ocean pollution, alarming human rights abuses, overtourism and global warming the need for this has never been more urgent.“

Large visitor flows are increasingly posing major challenges, particularly for big cities. Accordingly, overtourism is a topic that numerous speakers will address at the ITB Convention.

Margaux Constantin, Associate Principal of McKinsey, Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of WTTC, will present the latest McKinsey report.

Based on a survey conducted by the German Society for Tourism Research (DGT) and the Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST), representatives of a number of cities concerned, including Barcelona, Amsterdam and Dubrovnik, will present their respective measures to counter overtourism.

Speakers will discuss about technology for controlling visitor flows under the heading of ‘Smart Destinations’.

Likewise, tourism experts will highlight how digital technology can help to manage visitor flows outside cities too. The experts will discuss the difficulties and opportunities that the booming sharing economy presents.

ITB Berlin 2018 will see a continuation of last year’s theme, the International Year of Sustainable Tourism declared by UNWTO, in the shape of the Sustainable Development Day.

The seminar on Gender Equality in Tourism to be held on International Women’s Day will be of special significance. On average, women in the tourism industry continue to be paid less and seldom occupy higher positions.

ITB Berlin 2018 , to be held on March 7-11 ,  is the world’s leading travel trade show. A total of 10,000 companies and organizations from 184 countries exhibited their products and services to around 169,000 visitors in 2017 according to Messe Berlin.

Feb. 19, 2018