Adventure tours and sustainable tourism: new trends and model projects at ITB Berlin

Forward-looking events on Adventure & Responsible Tourism in Halls 4.1 to 8. Adventure Tours celebrates its tenth anniversary at ITB Berlin with a pow-wow for trade visitors under the slogan of "Earth's Wetlands & Geoparks – Celebrating Earth Heritage, Sustaining Local Communities".

Berlin, 9 January 2013 – Ever since 2004 International companies representing adventure tours and sustainable tourism have been exhibiting their products and services in Hall 4.1 at ITB Berlin. "What was once a niche product and the domain of a few specialists has now become one of the travel industry's growth markets", said Dr. Martin Buck, Vice President of the Competence Center Travel & Logistics, Messe Berlin, commenting on how the world's largest travel trade show promotes forward-looking travel industry trends. Under the slogan of "Celebrate Big Green 10", the weekend of 9 and 10 March 2013 will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of Adventure Tours at ITB Berlin. During the Open Days for the public a large stage wíll be hosting a variety of music and folk events. Celebrities will be giving autograph sessions and numerous events such as competitions, games and activities on the climbing wall and high ropes course will also be taking place. Visitors can also find out first-hand about the latest products and services the adventure tour and sustainable tourism market has to offer. This is also the first year that the Study Group for Tourism and Development will be represented with a stand in Hall 4.1.

Focus on responsible and sustainable tourism

"Earth's Wetlands and Geoparks – Celebrating Earth Heritage, Sustaining Local Communities" will be the key theme of the eighth Pow-Wow, which takes place from 6 to 8 March 2013. Numerous sessions featuring high-profile speakers, panel discussions and workshops will provide trade visitors with an opportunity to exchange views with international travel experts, discuss the latest trends and meet people from all over the world. The three-day event will feature topics such as "Understanding the Environment", "Understanding China" and "Understanding Ireland".

Key events in Hall 4.1 will include a project under the heading of "Building Partnerships among Tourism Professionals to Foster Sustainable Tourism" and a special workshop entitled "How to penetrate the German-speaking market". Organised and moderated by WWF Germany and the Federal Nature Conservation Bureau (BfN), a session entitled "Experiencing diversity - winning over customers with bio-diversity " will take place on Thursday, 7 March 2013. Leading tour operators such as Accor Hospitality Deutschland, REWE Touristik, ReNatour, Spreescouts, Aventerra and Europarc Deutschland will be taking a look behind the scenes, at how to conserve bio-diversity in tourism, at the obstacles involved, and examining how long-term commitment eventually pays off.

In addition to the events celebrating this tenth anniversary, further highlights on the stage in Hall 4.1a will include the presentation ceremonies of the international TO DO! and TOURA D'OR Awards. 17 projects from 14 countries will be competing for the TO DO! 2012 Awards, which will be presented on Wednesday, 6 March 2013. With one exception, these are all from developing and emerging countries. The results will be eagerly awaited, with experts from the jury of high-profile members currently inspecting two projects in the countries in question. The panel selecting the winners of the TOURA D'OR 2012 has nominated its film choice in the Documentary category. The presentation will take place on Saturday, 9 March 2013.

About ITB Berlin and the ITB Berlin Convention

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. More details are available at www.itb-convention.com. Azerbaijan is the Convention & Culture Partner of ITB Berlin 2013. The Basic Sponsors of the convention are Studiosus and the World Tourism Forum Lucerne.

ITB Berlin is the world's leading travel trade show. In 2012 a total of 10,644 exhibitors from 187 countries displayed their products and services to 172,000 visitors, who included 113,006 trade visitors.