Berlin’s ITB Fair Expected to Welcome over 9,000 Exhibitors

The Berlin International Tourism Fair (ITB) –one of the world’s largest tradeshows in the industry- will draw in this year a staggering 9,000 exhibitors and somewhere between 60,000 and 70,000 specialized visitors, IPK International, the event’s organizer in Munich, estimates.

The fair’s upcoming edition –scheduled from March 12 to 16- will honor Peru as the guest country. For the first time ever, the Balearic Islands will have a pavilion of their own, ITB’s chief Christian Goeke said in Frankfurt.

Organizers, sponsored this time around by the World Tourism Organization, hope the travel marketplace to respond to five key questions: how hard has the industry been hit? What are destinations and organizations doing on their own to encourage demand and adapt themselves to a changing market? When should we expect a steady recovery of the industry? What are the perspectives for the year 2004 and beyond?

After enduring a two-year crisis, the travel sector expects to get a new shot in the arm with the holding of the ITB fair. In Mr. Goeke’s own words, “higher demand for more flexible and cheaper products is definitely shaking up the travel industry.”

However, Mr. Goeke also thinks that competition is getting increasingly fiercer within the sector, a reason why the need to blow the cobwebs off some markets, like Asia or the new member states of the European Union, is now so urgent.

Last year, the ITB fair rounded out 9,971 exhibitors. Nonetheless, some predicted that figure would be out of reach in this year’s event given that major companies like Thomas Cook –Europe’s second-largest tour operator- have lots of debts piled up on them. But contrary to those grim forecasts, ITB will come in for even a few newcomers, like Eritrea.

Within the fair’s framework, Peru will come to Europe with an exposition of the Lord of Sipan’s royal tombs. As this year’s guest nation, the South American country will be in charge of the opening gala with an estimated attendance of 5,000 people, a spokesman for the Peruvian embassy in Germany explained.

For their part, the Balearic Islands will count on their own 1,000-square-meter pavilion, three times as much space as they had had in previous editions. Sources close to the Balearic Tourism Council revealed that U.S. movie star Michael Douglas signed up for the Balearic Day during the ITB fair.