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Dresden (dpa / sn) - Saxony is attracting new visitors this year at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) as the official “cultural destination”.
"I see this fair as a sign of hope for the travel industry," said Minister of Culture Barbara Klepsch (CDU) on Tuesday at the opening of the tourism fair (March 9th to 12th).
Due to the pandemic, this will take place online this year and exclusively for trade visitors.
The ITB comes just in time for the restart that tourism so desperately needs.
"We have to pull out all the stops here in order to be prepared for the moment when travel is possible again," emphasized Klepsch.
The Free State presents itself at the digital fair as one of 3,500 exhibitors from around 120 countries and as an official “cultural destination”.
The ITB awarded this title for the first time this year to highlight a cultural travel destination.
In addition, Saxony wants to draw attention to Chemnitz as the cultural capital of 2025 at the ITB.
The Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen (TMGS) is responsible for the presentation at the ITB under the motto "Saxony - Feel the art beat".
“This ITB is the hot line to our tourism partners at home and abroad as well as to new business,” explained TMGS managing director Veronika Hiebl.
Video clips from Saxony are shown in a virtual room and a digital culture café and travel highlights are suggested.
These include an exhibition on the painter Johannes Vermeer from June 4 in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, a new chamber music festival and the "Wagner 22" festival at the Leipzig Opera.
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The corona crisis hit Saxony's tourism industry hard: Last year, the Free State booked almost 13.5 million overnight stays, 35 percent less than the year before.
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