ITB Berlin to focus on refugees

Biggest travel expo to address refugees, climate change, tourism for peace, women in tourism and sustainable destinations

This year’s ITB CSR Day at the ITB Berlin Convention will be addressing topical issues in connection with sustainable tourism, the refugee situation, climate change and how tourism can further peace. Lectures and discussions will be providing trade visitors with new ideas and suggestions for greater social and ecological responsibility in tourism.

Trade visitors can attend the international travel industry’s leading think tank free of charge.

Rika Jean-Francois, in charge of CSR at ITB Berlin, will open the ITB CSR Day 2016 with a keynote panel on ‘Climate change: the challenges facing the world’s tourism industry’.

Visitors are invited to come and judge for themselves as the Green Destinations 2016 Global Top 100 are showcased, – a series of best practice and award presentations from the Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100, a collaborative effort of leading sustainable tourism networks. This is the world’s largest community of destinations, providing a global platform for the exchange of good practice in sustainable destination management. Participating destinations develop and monitor their strengths on the basis of the Green Destinations Standard and an online reporting platform. See Could your destination be in the world top 100?

Following a successful launch last year, National Geographic and ITB Berlin will be presenting the World Legacy Awards again in 2016, which will take place on 9 March at the ITB Future Day, part of the ITB Berlin Convention.

Afterwards, at the CSR Day moderated by Costas Christ, chairman of the National Geographic World Legacy Awards and editor of National Geographic Traveler, both the award winners and judges will discuss how the winners have managed to become pioneers of sustainable tourism.

This year’s Studiosus discussion will focus on human rights in tourism. The panel discussion on ‘Sustainable tourism destinations: sustainability standards and systems, practical recommendations and implementation’ will be celebrating a first. With the support of the Federal Ministry of the Environment the German Tourism Association (DTV) has put together a practical list of criteria for German tourism destinations.

Women are not only important tourism industry customers, they also occupy a central role. The presentation of the first ‘Celebrating Her – Global Awards’ is proof of this. After an introduction by Ajay Prakash, president of IIPT India & Chief Executive Nomad Travels India, and keynote speeches by tourism ministers, including the Hon. Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Seychelles, IIPT India will provide impressive examples of best practices managed by women.

The winners will have suggestions on how to successfully develop tourism services.

The ITB CSR Day 2016 will conclude with a look towards the future and the topic of ‘Travelling for peace’. Aziz Abu Sarah, founder of Mejdi Tours and a multiple award-winning keynote speaker, will examine how tourism can help to prevent violent conflicts and illustrate how peace initiatives and business success can be combined in the travel industry.

About ITB Berlin and the ITB Berlin Convention

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

Valere Tjolle

@ValereTjolle [email protected]

Want extra ITB exposure? TravelMole Vision on Sustainable Tourism will be running a special ITB showcase details here: