18 ITB BERLIN CONVENTION PROGRAMME 2019 WEDNESDAY 6 TH MARCH 2019 Prof. Dr Dr h. c. Clemens Fuest President, ifo Institute 10:45am-5:45pm ITB Future Day City Cube, Auditorium A4/A5 10:45am-7:00pm ITB Destination Day 1 City Cube, Auditorium A1 10:45am-5:45pm ITB Deep Dive Sessions 1 City Cube Club 10:45am-7:30pm ITB Young Professionals Day Hall 11.1, Young Professionals Stage 3:00pm-5:45pm ITB Business Travel Forum Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1 10:30am-2:00pm eTravel Lab Day 1 Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab 10:30am-6:00pm eTravel Stage Day 1 Hall 6.1, eTravel Stage 2:00pm-6:00pm TTA Forum Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2019 AND BEYOND Category: ITB Future Day Date: March 6, 2019 Time: 2pm-2.45pm Location: City Cube, Auditorium A4/A5 10:45am-2:45pm ITB MICE Forum Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1 THURSDAY 7 TH MARCH 2019 10:45am-5:45pm ITB Marketing & Distribution Day City Cube, Auditorium A4/A5 10:45am-2:45pm ITB Experts Forum Wellness City Cube, Auditorium A3 3:00pm-5:55pm ITB Tourism for Sustainable Development Day City Cube, Auditorium A3 10:45am-5:45pm ITB Deep Dive Sessions 2 City Cube Club 10:45am-2:45pm ITB Business Travel Forum Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1 FRIDAY 8 TH MARCH 2019 10:45am-4:45pm ITB Destination Day 2 City Cube, Auditorium A4/A5 10:45am-2:45pm ITB CSR Day City Cube, Auditorium A3 10:45am-4:45pm ITB Deep Dive Sessions 3 City Cube Club 10:30am-4:30pm eTravel Lab Day 3 Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab SATURDAY 9 TH MARCH 2019 11:00am-2:00pm eTravel Stage Day 4 Hall 6.1, eTravel Stage 2:00pm-5:00pm Responsible Destinations Forum Palais am Funkturm, ITB Convention Awards 3:00pm-5:45pm ITB MICE Forum Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1 10:30am-2:00pm eTravel Lab Day 2 Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab 10:30am-6:00pm eTravel Stage Day 2 Hall 6.1, eTravel Stage 2:00pm-6:00pm ITB Hospitality Tech Forum Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab 11:00am-5:30pm Equality & Responsibility Forum Palais am Funkturm, ITB Convention Awards 10:30am-5:00pm eTravel Startup Day Hall 6.1, eTravel Stage 11:00am-12:00 Animal Welfare Palais am Funkturm, ITB Convention Awards 1:00pm-2:00pm International Women’s Day Special Palais am Funkturm, ITB Convention Awards 10:30am-1:30pm ITB HotelCamp Hall 7.1b, eTravel Lab The economic challenges in 2019 and beyond On ITB Future Day, Professor Clemens Fuest, President of the ifo Institute, will present a global economic outlook. We asked him to give a little foretaste of what we can expect to hear. The global economic outlook is currently characterised by a decline in dynamic and growing risks. These risks include the looming danger of a trade war, the risk of a hard Brexit and the fragile situation of several Eurozone economies, in particular Italy, which has fallen back into recession. In the face of these risks, policy makers should take measures to reduce uncertainty and foster confidence of investors and consumers. In particular, they should prevent a hard Brexit and try to convince the Italian government to return to the path of fiscal consolidation and growth enhancing economic reforms. How important will a potential slowdown in the Chinese economy be for Europe/ROW? After decades of dynamic economic growth, it is almost inevitable that growth rates in China will be lower in the years to come. The recently reported slowdown still implies growth rates between five and six per cent, which is enough to keep economic exchange between China and the rest of the world expanding. A stronger decline in economic growth, however, could have negative consequences for other countries including European countries currently benefitting from high demand from China. How should the tourism industry be preparing for this? I think that the tourism industry should be aware that income growth at current rates may not continue so that some of the demand may move towards lower cost segments. What effect do you predict Brexit will have on the European travel/ tourism economy? This depends on whether or not there will be a Brexit without a deal. Overall, I would expect the effect to be very limited. A hard Brexit may interrupt travel, but that will only be a transitory effect. If there is a deal, I would expect no impact at all ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 27 th February 2019 www.itb-berlin-news.com
19 Caroline Bremner Head of Travel Research, Euromonitor International Rob Holmes Founder & Chief Strategist, GLP Films BREXIT: GREAT BRITAIN TOURISM AT A CROSSROADS Category: ITB Future Day Date: March 6, 2019 Time: 4pm-4.45pm Location: City Cube, Auditorium A4/A5 MEKONG TOURISM FORUM: FILM TOURISM AND VISUAL STORYTELLING Category: ITB Deep Dive Sessions 1 Date: March 6, 2019 Time: 3pm-3.45pm Location: City Cube, Cube Club Brexit uncertainty mounts as March 29 exit approaches The opportunity for smart tourism growth The path to Brexit has not been smooth with many stops and starts along the way. Now with only a few weeks left until the UK’s official withdrawal from the EU, huge uncertainty remains about the UK’s future relationship with Europe as negotiations go down to the wire. We asked Caroline Bremner, Head of Travel Research at Euromonitor International how her organisation sees the upcoming Brexit. The path to Brexit has not been smooth with many stops and starts along the way. Now with only a few weeks left until the UK’s official withdrawal from the EU, huge uncertainty remains about the UK’s future relationship with Europe as negotiations go down to the wire. The threat of a no-deal Brexit is increasing as the UK government fails to break gridlock and the potential for the UK to crash out without a deal – defaulting to World Trade Organisation rules – seems ever more apparent. How will it impact the UK, and what will be the impact on the rest of Europe? In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the Pound depreciated sharply and has still not recovered to its pre-referendum levels. The weak Pound has helped to boost inbound arrivals to the UK, with the country benefiting from its new-found higher value for money proposition. Spain is forecast to be the hardest hit, with inbound tourism potential growth reduced by 5% by 2022, seeing as it has high dependency on the UK. UK arrivals to Germany are also expected to be weaker in 2019 as the knock-on effects of the Brexit crisis impact negatively on UK business and consumer confidence, constraining tourism demand. What should travel professionals be doing in order to prepare for this? Many travel professionals will be taking a “business as usual” approach to Brexit. Putting consumers first will help brands to navigate choppy waters. Who should attend your session? The session will appeal to all those interested in understanding the future outlook for tourism in the UK and Europe Rob Holmes, Founder & Chief Strategist at GLP Films, has spent 10 years in storytelling and content marketing for the travel and sustainability industries. We started by asking him what are the evolving challenges the industry is facing. We are seeing record-breaking international travel every year. With this exceptional growth in our industry comes the responsibility to think innovatively about how destinations can handle the continual rise in arrivals. In the past decade, we have seen offthe-beaten-path destinations become tourism hubs with the local community and environment suffering. Our goal is to push the industry towards smart tourism growth. What are some of the solutions to these challenges, from the perspective of marketing for sustainable travel? Fortunately, trends show an increase in travellers that want an authentic experience that supports the local community and environment. Travel brands should focus on the consumer groups that will bring the highest value and lowest impact on a destination. Geotagging is another industry challenge, where specific places become overburdened with travellers that flock to a place to capture a picture they’ve seen on social media. We work with destinations on marketing strategies to promote an experience versus a specific to take the pressure off overrun locations or hotspots. Do you have any specific examples of successful marketing strategies for sustainable travel? We love to work with emerging destinations because it allows us to innovatively think about how to simultaneously protect and promote a place that can greatly benefit from the tourism economy. We recently worked with the country of Georgia to promote its incredible adventure and culinary experiences. Our video campaign focused on authentic experiences that could take place anywhere in the destination and targeting the high-value, low-impact adventure traveller. What advice can you share for leaders in the industry to push sustainable travel forward? Tourism professionals have the power to make travel a sustainable industry. Think beyond traditional advertising, use marketing as a tool to support smart destination growth ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 27 th February 2019
