I NEWS I Daily Briefing By David Ruetz, Head of ITBBerlin NOW Welcome to day two of the show ... and what is an absolutely exceptional ITBBerlin NOW Convention. Today, the ITBBerlin Marketing and Distribution track awaits you. Topics will include digitalisation, sales and developments in the luxury market. Among the guests will be high-profile representatives from Booking.com and Amazon Web Services. In an exclusive global customer survey, ITBBerlin and Travelzoo examined customer confidence trends during these uncertain times of Covid-19. Christian Smart of Travelzoo will be discussing the findings in his keynote this morning. DON’T FORGET THAT AFTER THE SESSIONS, YOU CAN ACTIVELY JOIN IN DISCUSSIONS IN THE VARIOUS ITB BERLIN NOW CAFÉS. At 10:15 this morning, we’ll be seeing the ITB Keynote Interview: “From Mass to Meaningful Travel: Airbnb shares insights on Travel Trends and the Role of Hosting when travel recovers”. Here, the co-founder of Airnbnb, Nathan Blecharzyk, will be discussing how the pandemic has changed travel behaviour, how Airbnb has responded to the impact of the pandemic, and the future role of the sharing economy in the travel rebound. topic of the Future of Medical Tourism – at 1:35pm – on stage 2. Medical tourism will also be the topic of a keynote – at 3:25pm, by Dr Anna Bialk-Wolf, of the Institute of Research of Medical Tourism, followed by the ITB Medical Tourism Award at 3:40pm. Philip C. Wolf, founder of Phocuswright, will be hosting several very important sessions, including the CEO interview: “The Future of Global and European Travel Distribution”, with Booking CEO, Glen Fogel; or “The Future of Asian Travel Distribution”, with Deep Kalra, CEO at MakeMyTrip. At 6pm, Stefan Leser, CEO at Langham Hospitality Group and Frank Trampert, SVP & Global MD - Commercial at Sabre Hospitality, will be addressing a topic that is front of mind with anyone working in or around the hospitality industry: “The Evolution of the Guest Experience – Creating Opportunities beyond the Room and beyond the Crisis”. Don’t forget that after the sessions, you can actively join in discussions in the various ITBBerlin NOW cafés. Luxury travel is a sector that has not only weathered the storm better than others, but also has big growth potential, and at 1:25pm, on stage 1, our ITB Panel Discussion, hosted by Marc Aeberhard, will address, “What will the (Luxury) Hotel Industry look like in a post Covid Future?” There will also be a very timely roundtable on the See you there! 4 ITB BERLIN NEWS • WEDNESDAY 10 TH MARCH 2021 www.itb-berlin-news.com
I NEWS I 2020/21 TO DO awards announced Equality and social responsibility under the spotlight at ITBBerlin NOW The winners of this year’s (and last year’s) editions of the TO DO Awards have been announced at ITBBerlin NOW. @Rutas Ancestrales Araucarias - Instagram The project “Rutas Ancestrales Araucarias” enables members of the indigenous Mapuche nation to tell their own story “EQUALITY IN TOURISM”: INITIATING POSITIVE CHANGE “RUTAS ANCESTRALES ARAUCARIAS” FROM CHILE WINS TO DO AWARD 2021 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TOURISM The project “Rutas Ancestrales Araucarias” enables members of the indigenous Mapuche nation to tell their own story and to decide for themselves at any time how to present themselves, their ways of life, their traditions, and values to their visitors. The Mapuche nation, who mainly live in the central and southern part of Chile, had to fight for centuries for the recognition of their rights and are still severely repressed by the state. Their ancestral land, for instance, has over the past centuries been reduced by military intervention from ten million hectares to a mere 500,000 hectares. With this project, the Mapuche (Eng: “people of the earth”) are now consistently working on having their culture and ways of life recognised. In as early as 2012, several local communities in the area of Curarrehue, at the outskirts of the Villarrica National Park, came together to discuss the economic perspectives of their people. At this meeting, they developed the idea of community-based tourism. By 2014, tours along three routes across the region were offered, organised by local guides. Today, the project has found around 30 local partners who share the Mapuche’s culture and ways of living with visitors. Various activities are offered along the routes, from storytelling about the Mapuche’s world view or local medicinal plants to visits to farms and vegetable gardens. The guest may also get actively involved The TO DO Award Human Rights in Tourism 2021 goes to “Equality in Tourism International”. The London-based organisation is committed to full gender equality for women in all areas of tourism. “Equality in Tourism” was founded in 2018 with the objective of a consistent transformation of gender relations to create new, just, and sustainable forms of tourism and structures that maintain it. In its practical work, the organisation initiates projects and measures to promote gender equality, better access of women to areas of work in tourism, equal participation in decision-making processes within the entire tourism sector. In particular, the organisation Esfahk historic village, Iran gathers data on the gender situation in the tourism sector, as a basis for the development of strategies for change. For the London-based NGO, the human rights approach is a constructive one for the tourism industry. Apart from strategic needs analyses which make it possible to understand the relations within and between communities and to develop methods for positive change, “Equality in Tourism” develops gender awareness programmes. Organisational development and programme delivery – including strategic planning, change management, training programmes, and feasibility studies are also included in the range of activities LAST YEAR’S WINNERS HONOURED In a live session yesterday, Claudia Mitteneder In a live session yesterday, Claudia Mitteneder and Rika Jean-François announced the awards, explaining that as last year’s ITB was cancelled at short notice due to Covid-19, the two TO DO Award winners of 2020 could not be honoured during a live event at the trade fair. So, during this year’s online TO DO Award ceremony, the projects Esfahk Historic Village, Iran and Banteay Chhmar Community Based Tourism, Cambodia were also presented and honoured ITB BERLIN NEWS • WEDNESDAY 10 TH MARCH 2021 5
