“ITB Berlin once again mirrored industry developments. The mood among exhibitors, visitors and speakers was very positive throughout. They generally agreed that people’s desire to travel is not just satisfying pent-up demand after the pandemic, but that it will remain basically stable. Neither inflation nor high energy prices appear to be curbing demand,” commented Dr. Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin.
Even with widespread strikes, this year’s ITB Berlin recorded a slight increase with nearly 100,000 attendees – a result that exceeded expectations in the face of challenging strike circumstances. Diverse and globally represented, more than 5,500 exhibitors from 170 countries occupied all 27 exhibition halls at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
Despite global crises, the industry displayed confidence at ITB Berlin 2024 – people’s desire to travel appears unabated. The most important topics were the growing importance of AI, the shortage of skilled labour and climate justice.
CONVENTION
The ITB Berlin Convention took place parallel with the three-day show and featured high-profile attendees and a total of 400 leading international speakers at 200 sessions and 17 theme tracks discussing trends and innovations. All in all, around 24,000 attendees came to the panels, discussions, keynote speeches and lectures, again acknowledging the convention as the industry’s leading international thinktank.
BUYERS CIRCLE
The ITB Buyers Circle with its 1,300 senior buyers served as an industry barometer and underlined the importance of the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show as a leading business platform. Together with the management consultancy Dr. Fried & Partner, ITB Berlin compiled the new Global Travel Buyer Index. The survey asked several hundred Buyers Circle members about the economic mood and their business goals. The findings reflected a positive mood throughout regarding the market situation and provided an optimistic outlook for business over the next six months.
POSITIVE STATS
Following the pandemic and compared with 2023, this was the first time the industry registered a positive trend in the Asian-Pacific region. One example was China, which celebrated its return as an exhibitor this year and now welcomes visitors from selected countries by fast-tracking their visas.
All in all, the attendees at ITB Berlin were able to return home in positive expectation of this year’s developments and can look ahead to excellent business and a large volume of early bookings, especially for summer 2024.
There was positive news at the show regarding hall occupancy. The re-opening of five refurbished halls permitted several changes, together with improvements in many areas.
For the first time, the German-speaking countries were all under one roof and together occupied hub27. China, Liechtenstein and the Emirates airline were welcomed back to the show, along with newcomers Dominica, the Cayman Islands and Disney Cruise Lines. The fact that many exhibitors had expanded their displays was also positive.
They included the popular holiday destinations Italy, Greece and Turkey as well as exhibitors from the Asian, Arab and African markets. The Travel Tech segment also expanded again. This year the Mobility segment also reflected a growth market, and the Cruise segment again showed itself to be ever-popular.
The next ITB Berlin will take place as a B2B event again from Tuesday to Thursday, 4 to 6 March 2025 on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
‘AI just cannot be ignored any longer’
AI and its potential uses were a much-discussed topic at the recently concluded ITB Berlin 2024. For the first time, the ITB Berlin Convention hosted a dedicated AI Track, which was received by the event’s 24,000 attendees.
It was generally agreed that no organisation or company could any longer ignore AI.
Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, was certain that “generative AI can be of more assistance than real humans when customers are making their travel plans.”
Charuta Fadnis, SVP, Phocuswright also acknowledged the growing importance of AI and personalised travel apps. Generative AI is already improving sales, while in Fadnis’ view, using virtual agents and combining AI with blockchain technologies will be key to preventing misuse in the future. The convention participants also agreed that it was impossible to ignore climate justice and the skills shortage, for which there were promising solutions however.
Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation, appealed to the tourism industry to aim for net zero by 2030. His study entitled ’Envisioning Tourism in 2030 and Beyond’ outlines a dynamic path with a focus on regulating air travel and 40 measures in six categories for achieving sustainable tourism by 2050.
AI was also a big topic for the ITB Innovation Radar, which this year celebrated its second edition. The focus was on 16 forward-looking innovations presented by industry visionaries. They ranged from B2B services for the hospitality industry and travel industry professionals to sustainable concepts. The innovations offered a glimpse of future trends.