display
Rostock / Berlin (dpa / mv) - The International Tourism Exchange ITB starts next Tuesday in a purely online format.
"It's an experiment for everyone involved," said the managing director of the regional tourism association, Tobias Woitendorf, of the German press agency.
The "ITB Berlin NOW", as the format is called this year, is the pioneer for the digital staging of a global trade fair of this size.
In previous years, around 10,000 exhibitors from almost 200 countries met in Berlin, and more than 100,000 trade and 50,000 private visitors came to the huge site.
There are no private visitors this year, around 3500 exhibitors from 120 countries have registered.
The fair lasts until Friday.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania decided very quickly to acquire the largest package there is for regions, said Woitendorf.
"Because of the corona pandemic, it is important to show the flag."
With the four topics of safety, sustainability, health tourism and accessibility, the country presented itself to the international tourist industry.
display
This type of digital exhibition stand gives the association and the 17 exhibitors from the country access to all areas of the digital exhibition.
"We can confer with the other exhibitors and make agreements."
This form of trade fair costs around 25,000 euros and is therefore considerably cheaper than the roughly 400,000 euros that a total of the trade fair had in one of the previous years.
"For us this is the test run to see whether this digital version can also build bridges to the future," said Woitendorf.
It can be assumed that the ITB will be held in the future with a mixture of digital and presence elements.
It may also be possible to read off what trade fairs will look like overall in the future.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210306-99-711420 / 2
ITB now