World's largest tourism trade fair, Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin), has commenced at Messe Berlin Exhibition grounds.
ITB Berlin is the world's leading travel trade show, with the participation of more than 187 countries from across 5 continents. The participants comprise of 10,000 exhibitors, 1,000 qualified top buyers, 26,000 convention visitors, 60,000 private visitors and 120,000 trade visitors.
Last year, there was a turnover of 7 billion Euros in business dealings at ITB Berlin, which provides vast opportunities through B2B platform for industry partners to interact with trade visitors and expand contacts and do business. Furthermore, it is the place to show product offerings of Maldives and communicate destination information to travel trade, media as well as the public visitors.
Maldives would be showcasing a variety of local experiences at a newly designed two-storey stand, with the participation of a record-breaking number of over 100 Maldivian companies and 280 representatives. The delegation participating in ITB Berlin comprises of Maldivian Ambassador in Germany Jameela Ali and Acting Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Haris Mohamed along with other tourism stakeholders in Maldives.
The participation of such a strong delegation in ITB Berlin is a huge milestone achievement, the Acting Manager of MMPRC noted speaking regarding the fair. This is an opportune time to promote Maldives in a prominent fair as the tourism industry in faced by attempts to diminish the image of the country, added Haris.
Germany is currently the second largest source market to the Maldives. A total of 112,109 Germans visited Maldives in 2017, which is a growth of 5.2% compared to 2016.