ITB Berlin: Asia should still be the driving force for the tourism indusrty in 2017

17 Mar 2017 2152 | World Travel News

As the world's marketplace and the trendsetter of the global travel industry ITB Berlin once again impressively underlined its standing as the World's Leading Travel Trade Show. The conclusion one can draw from the five-day exhibition is this: face-to-face meetings between business partners from around the world have become increasingly important, especially at a time of uncertainty and geopolitical challenges.

One of the trends which have taken hold everywhere in the travel industry was evident in each of the 26 display halls: the digital transition has taken over the business of selling tourism at breathtaking speed.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand's stand at ITB Berlin 2017

All international organisations dealing with tourism - UNWTO, WTTC or PATA - agree on one fact when looking at Asia. The continent definitely drove internatinal tourism growth across the globe in 2016 and it should still be the driving force for the tourism indusrty in 2017. According to PATA forecasts released in early March, Asia recorder 433.3 million international arrivals last year, a growth of 3.2%.

Botswana was under spotlight this year at ITB Berlin as the official Partner Country, and the tourism professionals claim that this event has further highlighted the dedication Botswana has to ensuring that tourism and conservation are on the world stage. Botswana, the partner country of ITB, is considered a world leader in nature conservation. Three factors have contributed to its success: zero tolerance regarding corruption, the involvement of local communities and increased support for them in nature reserves, and a committed fight against illegal trade in wildlife and mismanagement of natural resources.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) presented at ITB Berlin for the first time the 'LINK' project, a unique marketing concept designed to link 10 TAT offices abroad with 10 provinces and local communities, deemed to be ready to host visitors. TAT, in general is developing a wide range of taior-made quality products emphasising "unique thai local experiences".

With a wide pool of source markets and infrastructure upgrades, Sri Lanka welcomes more an more visitors, and according to Sri Lanka;s Minister of Tourism Development,Lands and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga, today's Sri Lanka is a safe heaven for tourists.

Malaysia is seeing a rebound in tourism after some rocky times in 2015, and appears to be back on track for the nation's announced goals for the year 2020. YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, said that this year's target is to reach 31.8 million tourist arrivals and RM 118 billion in tourist receipts.

Pictured is Mr Richard Singer, President Travelzoo EuropeClose. At the event "Travel Safety: Fears and Counter-Reactions of Global Tourists", of the more than 6,000 people from nine countries who were questioned, 97 per cent stated that safety was a consideration when making a travel decision. This also applies when they have already booked a journey and have been disconcerted by the latest news. For the study into Safety & Security that was commissioned jointly with ITB Berlin, the world market leader Travelzoo collaborated with a leading British tourism university to evaluate the findings by Norstat Research.