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I TRADE TALK I<br />
Health travel<br />
@ <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong> NOW<br />
A leading international consultant gives<br />
feedback on this year’s event<br />
Irena Rapoport<br />
I.R.Agency (I.R.A.) - Health<br />
Travel International<br />
Consulting<br />
Medical and wellness tourism are sectors that still have huge<br />
potential, and keeping up with current trends is essential to<br />
success in the industry. To do so, Irena Rapoport I. R. Agency<br />
(I.R.A.) - Health Travel International Consulting has been<br />
attending <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong> for several years, and has thus had time<br />
to form an opinion about the show…<br />
It was a great moment in my<br />
professional life to participate in<br />
the <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong> Medical Pavilion<br />
(2018, 2019). The experience<br />
and the ideas I have had as a<br />
speaker, moderator and just as an<br />
attendee at other Medical Travel<br />
events, enable me to understand<br />
how crucial it is to find the<br />
proper business partners, this<br />
what I learnt, for example, at the<br />
European HTI Conference and got<br />
another proof at <strong>ITB</strong> as it is just<br />
the perfect event to discover new<br />
destinations and partners.<br />
Networking during such gigantic<br />
event contributes considerably<br />
to business development. The<br />
booths of so many exhibitors<br />
(destinations, hotels, clinics etc.)<br />
enable the access to new horizons,<br />
inspire and awaken our creativity. I<br />
think we can define <strong>ITB</strong> BERLIN<br />
with 3 words: DISCOVERY,<br />
INSPIRATION, JOY.<br />
With no doubt, 2020 will be<br />
remembered as the most<br />
challenging year in our lives due<br />
to the pandemic. It is obvious that<br />
tourism is one of the industries<br />
that has been hurt the most. This<br />
is why the fact that <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong><br />
have not given up, and have<br />
created a virtual event in spite of<br />
the worldwide situation, is greatly<br />
appreciated. This will bring hope<br />
and optimism for the future of<br />
tourism and is a big step towards<br />
recovery until will meet in 2022.<br />
Talking about my vision for the<br />
coming year, I am convinced that<br />
the needs for Wellness Travel<br />
will increase as the stress and<br />
burn out for all sectors (however<br />
especially for the medical staff)<br />
will greatly influence their<br />
decisions for this type of holidays<br />
as soon as borders will reopen.<br />
It seems that big hotels will have<br />
more difficulty in succeeding in<br />
the coming year. The demand for<br />
small boutique hotels will rise as<br />
the sanitation measures will be<br />
crucial as well as the country-wide<br />
Covid-19 protocols. The demand<br />
for Rejuvenation, stress release,<br />
immunity enhancing programs<br />
will increase.<br />
How are your key choice criteria<br />
changing when selecting new<br />
“star” destinations or hotel<br />
partners now?<br />
As an expert in Wellness Travel,<br />
understanding the modularity<br />
of eventual personalised<br />
programmes, I was always<br />
looking for destinations with clean<br />
environment, beautiful and diverse<br />
nature and the culture of service.<br />
The New era, “post- pandemic”<br />
is also influencing my new<br />
priorities and choices. Outdoor<br />
activities help to strengthen the<br />
immune system. The nature is<br />
therapeutic: forests, mountains,<br />
rivers, lakes. This is why I consider<br />
Croatia as one of “the healing<br />
countries” with amazing nature,<br />
perfect service and high-level<br />
medicine<br />
I THINK WE CAN<br />
DEFINE <strong>ITB</strong> BERLIN WITH<br />
3 WORDS: DISCOVERY,<br />
INSPIRATION, JOY.<br />
IRENA<br />
RAPOPORT<br />
THE “TAKE-<br />
AWAY” FROM<br />
THE COVID<br />
CRISIS<br />
Over tourism should be banned.<br />
Sustainability should be in focus.<br />
International standards and<br />
protocols for epidemiological<br />
situations should be worked out,<br />
accepted worldwide and applied<br />
globally. Projects for the nature<br />
preservation should be developed,<br />
and the young generation should<br />
be educated accordingly from<br />
very young age including special<br />
programmes in schools. We all saw<br />
the “nature rejuvenation” during<br />
lockdowns. We all, as humans, are<br />
responsible for that<br />
8 <strong>ITB</strong> BERLIN NEWS • FRIDAY 12 TH MARCH <strong>2021</strong><br />
www.itb-berlin-news.com