Around the halls of ITB
March 11, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
Turkey is the highlighted destination at this year’s ITB an interesting development as the national airline, Turkish Airlines, has identified Bangkok as its preferred hub in Asia and is about to enter code-share agreements with Thai Airways International.
The airline is focusing on Istanbul as its gateway hub to Europe and the city is demonstrating at the ITB exhibition grounds why it is the current European capital of culture.
Another relatively new section is at Hall 2 features Gay and Lesbian Travel. In this hall the networking area features displays of Vienna which is making a pitch for gay and lesbian events and travel.
A new hall has been opened to host “Central and Inner Asian Countries” (CIA) destinations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Garuda Indonesia is making its first appearance and has its own stand in Hall 26. The Indian display in Hall 5.2b is proving popular as the show gets underway with Kerala increasing its display area, while the Rajasthan Tourism Board has a combined stand for the region for the first time, and the Indian adventure park “Kingdom of dreams” is making its world debut.
Today, 11 March, is the ITB Hospitality Day with presentations on how hotels should revise their offers in view of climate change. Among the speakers are CEOs from leading hotel chains, who will outline their strategies for survival.
The first Media Summit at ITB Berlin is scheduled for Friday, 12 March with prominent representatives of the media, politics and the travel industry, discussing the future of tourism media.
