Face-to-Face: David Ruetz
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This week, Travel Daily talks to David Ruetz, head of ITB Berlin, about this year’s travel trade show and the outlook for the future…
Q) ITB Berlin continues to grow, setting a new record in 2015 in terms of attendees. Are you happy with the size of the event, and how big do you think it can grow?
Yes, we are very happy with the size of the event. The show was fully booked and ITB Berlin was once again able to cement its position as the world’s largest travel trade show.
Unless we don’t build additional halls on the fairground we will not be able to extend the show floor further. But we already give the full picture of the entire travel trade industry: 10,096 exhibitors from 186 countries attended this year’s ITB Berlin, over two thirds of whom came from abroad. This year travel technology expanded yet again. It currently attracts more international exhibitors and is among the largest segments of its kind at any show worldwide.
In terms of destinations, demand by exhibitors from the Arab countries and Asia was particularly high. Following an absence from the show, the Hilton and Hyatt hotels exhibited again in Hall 9.Overall, some 115,000 trade visitors travelled to Berlin. The share of trade visitors from abroad increased to 43 per cent. Trade visitors at ITB Berlin appreciate the quality of contacts and being able to meet so many international exhibitors. This year they also remained longer at ITB Berlin because they did good business, with the average duration of a stay rising to 2.4 days.
Q) Mongolia was the partner country of this year’s event. Is this reflective of a shift in demand towards emerging destinations, especially in Asia?
Europeans know their way around the world very well and nowadays tourism off the beaten track has become a major trend. Individual, once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences are becoming more and more important to people and there is substantial demand for tourism that is authentic and local. Adventure travel is one of the markets that will benefit.
This trend is a big opportunity for many emerging destinations that have not yet witnessed mass tourism. Mongolia, the partner country of ITB, showed how one can achieve visitor growth by offering sustainable tourism and respecting nature. In Asia there are certain to be many destinations that can benefit from the new pioneering spirit among tourists. Burma is the best example of this.
Q) Are you also seeing an increase in the average amount offloorspace/booth size being booked by exhibitors?
In terms of capacity there are definite limits to ITB Berlin’s growth, as the display halls are full. Exhibitors are beginning to put up two-tier stands. Our aim is to keep improving quality.
Q) Which sectors of the industry are seeing the strongest growth?
Travel technology will continue to expand at a high pace. The luxury travel segment and long-haul travel as well as cruise trips will benefit from the good economic outlook for Europe. We believe that all the main travel destinations will benefit from the prevailing positive mood: big European cities, Mediterranean countries and faraway destinations.
A fact particularly worth noting is that Germany as a travel destination continues to break all records. The tourism market in Germany has grown for the fifth year in succession in every single federal State, and this positive trend is set to continue in 2015. For North Americans the cost of travelling to Germany has fallen to unprecedented low levels due to the strength of the dollar. Other popular destinations include Egypt and Greece. Whereas Egypt’s economic revival has been slow, Greece reported double-digit growth for the third year running and despite the controversy surrounding its national debt continues on the path to recovery.
Q) While it’s early days, do you have any projections for the 2016 event? And what new innovations are you planning for next year?
Next year ITB will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. To mark the occasion we are launching a big campaign and sending 50 ambassadors of ITB Berlin to places around the world. They will be able to tell of fascinating encounters on their travels and let us rediscover many new destinations. Thus, in the run up to ITB Berlin we will have many interesting travel industry stories and be able to provide a foretaste of the wide-ranging programme that the jubilee edition of the world’s leading travel trade show has to offer in 2016.
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