ITB Berlin 2016’s Day One Now Under Way

Big names will be attending ITB, the world’s largest tourism convention. From 9 to 11 March 2016 around 400 leading experts and international entrepreneurs will be gathering at the ITB Berlin Convention to examine new trends and highlight best practices.

For the first time in Europe a humanoid robot made by Toshiba will show a wider audience what the future of service in tourism could be like. For trade visitors at ITB Berlin admission to the international travel industry's leading think tank is free.

On Wednesday, 9 March, ITB Destination Day 1 kicked off with a welcome by the Hon. Moosa Zameer, the tourism minister of the Maldives. The island nation in the Indian Ocean is this year’s partner country of ITB Berlin. General Secretary of UNWTO Dr. Taleb Rifai discussed “Authenticity and sustainability in tourism in booming Asian regions: the best practice example of Kayah State, Myanmar” with international representatives.

Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dr. Gerd Müller concluded day one of the ITB Destination Days with an introductory paper on “Travel for ONE WORLD – sustainable tourism, a success factor in developing and emerging countries”, which afterwards was the subject of a debate. Discussion points included the tasks facing politics and the travel industry and how to successfully coordinate the work of state-sponsored development and the tourism industry.

Also on 9 March, at the ITB Future Day, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger delivered a keynote speech on the mega trend of digitalization. Topics included shaping overall conditions at political and technological level in the EU in order to ensure the success of the digital transition in society, the economy and the tourism industry, and supporting innovative developments so as to guarantee the industry remains competitive.

Afterwards, Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn, president, ifo Institut – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Universität München e. V., presented the latest data on global economic developments. In his World Economic Outlook 2016 he explained the consequences of a weak Chinese economy, the growth outlook of the other BRIC countries, how Europe’s economy can be strengthened, and the impact on consumer demand and tourism.

Afterwards, in an ITB CEO Interview Darren Huston, president and CEO of The Priceline Group and Booking.com, offered an insight into “Formulas for success in times of complex markets and rapid global expansion” and presented some fascinating ideas for the tourism markets of tomorrow. Prof. Dr. Roland Conrady, science head of the ITB Berlin Convention, Hochschule Worms, conducted a keynote interview with Dr. Oliver Heckmann, vice president, Travel and Shopping, Google Inc. The subject is “From micro moments to a seamless travel planning and booking process.”

Oliver Heckmann, who is in charge of the global travel market at Google, gave his view of the future of travel search and booking processes, explaining how in the future inspiration for trips and planning and booking them will be interlinked, and provided an insight into Google‘s new Destination Mobile Interface.

Also on 9 March at the Young Professionals Day, the keynote interview looked at “The future of work in the tourism industry: will humanoid robots make us defunct?” Keynote speaker Dr. Carl Benedikt Frey, co-director and Oxford Martin Citi Fellow, Oxford Martin Program on Technology and Employment, University of Oxford, talked about employing artificial intelligence and humanoid robots in the service sector, the current situation in the international tourism industry, and how our jobs will change in the future.

On 11 March at the ITB Marketing and Distribution Day, the future will have already begun. Visitors to the convention can make up their own minds at two live demonstrations of Toshiba’s humanoid robot. ChihiraKanae speaks Japanese, Chinese and English, gestures with his arms and hands, changes his expression, recognizes faces and shows emotions.

Hitoshi Tokuda, chief specialist, Marketing Strategic Office, Research & Development Division, Toshiba Corporation will be taking questions from the audience. Afterwards, the internationally acclaimed tourism industry opinion-formers Doug Lansky, a travel journalist, and Ted Sullivan, vice president of Tourism and Resort Analytics, ADARA, will be talking about the topics that will impact on digital tourism in the future. Listeners can look forward to a challenging and witty exchange.

On 11 March at the ITB CSR Day, the multiple award-winning, highly regarded keynote speaker and tour operator Aziz Abu Sarah, will take a look at the topic of 'Travelling for peace'. The founder of Mejdi Tours will look at how tourism can help to prevent violent conflicts and illustrate how peace initiatives and business success can be combined in the travel industry.

ITB Berlin 2016 will take place from Wednesday to Sunday, 9 to 13 March. From Wednesday to Friday ITB Berlin is open to trade visitors only. Parallel with the trade show the ITB Berlin Convention, the world’s largest tourism convention, will be held from Wednesday, 9 to Saturday, 12 March 2016. The WTCF (World Tourism Cities Federation) is Co-Host of the ITB Berlin Convention.

Studiosus, Toshiba and TradeYourTrip are Basic Sponsors. More details are available at www.itb-convention.com. ITB Berlin is the global travel industry’s leading trade show. In 2015 a total of 10,096 companies and organizations from 186 countries exhibited their products and services to 175,000 visitors, who included 115,000 trade visitors.