ITB Berlin: Sustainability Forms the Basis for Success

Social and ecological responsibility in tourism is a key subject at ITB Berlin this year, where numerous events are again being used to address various aspects of sustainability and socially responsible travel.

The program in the Adventure & Responsible Tourism Hall 4.1b includes discussions and papers dealing with human rights, travel for the deaf and developments on the Caribbean island of Haiti three years after the disastrous earthquake.

This year environmental protection and social responsibility have also been taken into consideration in the production of the ITB Berlin catalogue and ITB Quickfinder, which have been printed using a climate-neutral process with the aim of supporting a geothermal project in this year’s partner country, Indonesia.

This year the eighth Pow Wow for tourism experts in Hall 4.1b will focus on “Earth’s Wetlands & Geoparks – Celebrating Earth Heritage, Sustaining Local Communities”. Marking the tenth anniversary of the Adventure & Responsible Tourism hall the English-language presentations there will feature workshops, panel discussions and papers dealing with wetlands, wildlife watching and biodiversity.

Mariana McGill, founder and general manager of Latin America World, one of the co-organizers of the Pow Wow from its earliest days on behalf of ITB Berlin, will be launching the program at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 March. Dr. Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, is one of the leading experts on wetlands and he will be describing how sustainable tourism can provide a way of preserving these sensitive ecosystems.

Geoparks are another important aspect of the eighth Pow Wow this year and this subject will be presented by Prof. Dr. Nicolas Zouros, Coordinator, European Geoparks Network, along with other prominent representatives of this organization and of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

A number of parks from different parts of the world will be presenting their own eco-friendly concepts. Another of the topics will be the protection of animals living in the wild. This year’s Convention & Culture Partner of ITB Berlin, Azerbaijan, will be providing details about its own sustainable tourism concept.

And there will be plenty of other opportunities to find out more about corporate social responsibility in tourism. Taking place for the third successive year on the main stage on 6 March will be an event organized by German Tourism Watch on the subject of human rights in tourism.

The main stage will also be the venue on 7 March for representatives of the political party “Die Linken” in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, when the slogan for their discussions will be “Travel for Everyone”. On 8 March details will be provided about climate-neutral school trips.

Travel organized by the deaf for the deaf will be featured at 12.30 p.m. on Friday, 8 March, on the small stage, using a fascinating project in Tanzania as an example. This will be followed by a paper on “Accessible Tourism in India”, which is aimed at making the Taj Mahal accessible to everyone. Barrier-free travel is also one of the topics covered by the ITB Berlin Convention: on 8 March, the ITB Destination Day, Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the UNWTO, will introduce the Keynote Panel on Barrier-Free Tourism.

Once again the ITB Berlin Convention will feature papers and discussions about various aspects of corporate social responsibility during the ITB CSR Day on 7 March 2013 in Hall 7.3, Europa Room.

ITB Berlin 2013 will be taking place from Wednesday, 6 to Sunday, 10 March, and from Wednesday to Friday will be open to trade visitors only. Parallel with the trade show, the ITB Berlin Convention, the largest travel industry event of its kind in the world, will be held from Wednesday, 6 to Friday, 8 March 2013.