I NEWS I ADVERTORIAL
I NEWS I ADVERTORIAL Slow adventure will bring visitors to experience Serbia's nature at their own pace in 2021. Such as embracing the spectacular panoramas of Tara National Park What to expect from Serbia in @NTOS 2021? VISIT BR AND CARD 2021 is Serbia's "year of slow adventure": a concept that highlights wandering, hiking and biking - for visitors to experience Mother Nature at her own pace. And also to plunge into Serbia's heritage and traditions. The National Tourism Organisation of Serbia (NTOS) focuses on four topics for its slow adventure concept: Nature Holidays, from the exploration of mountains and sparsely populated areas to villages and spas; Individual or small group activities such as hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing or cooking; Cultural and historical heritage in open, Covidsafe areas, including natural or architectural monuments and fortresses; Local gastronomy as an integral part of slow adventure with the tasting of specialties from all Serbian regions. Slow adventure is, according to the NTOS, the best way to meet the demand by tourists to get away from crowded areas. It champions leisurely, immersive journeys and heartfelt encounters in wild places and natural spaces, Slow adventure travellers take the time to pause and make eco-conscious travel choices, leaving no discernible footprint behind, interacting with local cultures and their natural rhythms, engaging with communities, and returning home with a finer appreciation of life. As the concept will bring tourists to lesser-known parts of the country, slow travel destinations offer multiple surprises for explorers, from wild food and wildlife to outdoor sanctuaries, enjoying human and nature-powered highlights. Covid-19 has claimed a "temporary victim" in Serbia. The Novi Sad Capital of Culture has been moved to 2022, as authorities predict a full recovery for tourism by then. But any visitor is welcome to already come in 2021 to visit the laidback historical capital of the Vojvodina region on the Danube River PLUNGE DIGITALLY INTO THE FUTURE OF TOURISM... WITH THE BERLIN TRAVEL FESTIVAL The Berlin Travel Festival // Digital will take travel consumers into a journey to dream about future sustainable tours over four evenings of events. Between March 9 and 12, the digital festival will take the form of a two and a half hour online video show. It will run in parallel to ITB Berlin NOW 2021 and target a new generation of travellers implementing sustainable rules while on the move. Each evening at 7pm, the BTF Digital offers a mix of blog articles, a media library with films, tutorials and exciting travel lectures. Registered travellers will be able to enjoy a dozen programmes (lasting between 10 and 25 min) each evening. This represents a total of 50 contributions and participants showing a wide selection of destinations, tour operators and branded tourism products. The Black Forest, North Rhine- Westphalia and Luxembourg will each partner for episodes. The Brand Profiles sessions will present, among others, Saxony, Hanover and Sylt. An offer of sustainable accommodation such as Bio Hotels, Green Tiny Houses, Destinature or the platform Good Travel will be on show, while original tour operators such as "We Hate Tourism Tours", WineStreet, Neue Wege and Intrepid will be presented. Experts and personalities will also debate, provide advice or talk about their experiences. Participants include Luise Morgeneyer (blogger and author), filmmakers Julia Nimke, Vincent Urban or Christo Foerster, Christine Thürmer, the "world's best" female hiker or mountain hiking guide Ana Zirner. They will all take viewers on a dreamed journey which hopefully will soon turn into reality ! www.berlintravelfestival.com 8 ITB BERLIN NEWS • TUESDAY 2 ND MARCH 2021 www.itb-berlin-news.com
I NEWS I Face-to-face with Saxony: Official Culture Destination ITB Berlin NOW 2021 Exclusive Interview: Veronika Hiebl, Managing Director - Saxony Tourism (Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen) This year, Saxony is ITB's first Official Culture Destination, and will be the Official Partner Country of ITB Berlin 2022. We asked Veronika Hiebl, Managing Director - Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH (TMGS), about this new partnership and this year's ITB highlights. ITB's Official Culture Destination concept is tailor-made for Saxony. We digitally present ourselves with 27 partners under the slogan "Saxony – Feel the Art Beat", offering images, interviews, live streams, a Culture Café, webinars and a press café. Our main themes are "Culture & Cities", "Active Nature" and "Family Holidays". How did TMGS reorganise its marketing strategy under Covid-19? Since the pandemic in spring 2020, we have concentrated on a domestic campaign, "Experience your Saxony", and on an international one, "Saxony Travel Dreams". These help in maintaining and even deepening our relationships with partners worldwide through innovative offers, digitalisation and sustainability. Which segments have the highest potential in 2021? The focus is clearly on Saxony's culture. However, the pandemic generates new travel values linked to socio-ecological responsibility. This means great potentials for nature and active holidays, for more targeted city tourism and for "off the beaten-path" vacations. It’s been important to develop more individualised and highquality offers supported by digital marketing. Despite the difficult situation in 2020, were there some positive developments? The Corona pandemic has created a profound disruption for tourism. TMGS implemented a major recovery campaign to present Saxony as a high-quality, cultural and distinctive nature destination. We were pleased that some of Saxony's regions were able to partially recover over summer 2020 up to October. In August alone, we counted a total of more than two million overnight stays. But this result should not hide the fact that losses for the year were dramatic. How important is ITB Berlin NOW for Saxony's tourism development? We feel proud that Saxony has been selected by ITB Berlin as the show's first-ever Official Culture Destination for 2021. It is an opportunity to present ourselves as one of the world’s major cultural destinations. And we feel very excited about this first entirely virtual ITB VISIT BR AND CARD Veronika Hiebl Managing Director - Saxony Tourism SAXONY’S 3 KEY ASSETS 1. Natural beauty 2. Outstanding art and culture 3. World-famous traditional crafts and modern artisan businesses All these can be found side by side in Saxony’s seven travel regions. The local music scene has no equal anywhere in Germany. Spectacular castles, palaces and gardens are part of the state’s grand cultural heritage. Saxony also impresses visitors with its historical steam engines and automotive heritage VERONIKA HIEBL: OVER 20 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN REGIONAL TOURISM MARKETING Veronika Hiebl, graduated in tourism business administration in 1999. She then worked at the Tourismus-Marketing Gesellschaft Baden-Württemberg from 1999 to 2010 in various positions before holding the position of Marketing Manager and Deputy Managing Director. She moved to Saxony in 2010, where she took over the management of the Ore Mountains Tourism Association. Since May 2019, Veronika Hiebl is Managing Director of Saxony Tourism. It is her mission to further develop tourism in Saxony and to market it domestically and internationally ITB BERLIN NEWS • TUESDAY 2 ND MARCH 2021 9
