Romania is One of the First Exhibitors of ITB Berlin

Interview with David Ruetz, Head of ITB Berlin, for Bucuresti What, Where, When & Bucharest NightLIFE, by Gabriel Arsene, Editor in Chief

Gabriel Arsene: Tell us more, please, about travel trends in the run up of the ITB Berlin 2014.

David Ruetz: In recent years there has been a paradigm shift in the travel industry. Before travellers actually go on holiday they deal with a host of different channels such as the internet, smartphone apps, traditional media and travel agencies. For the travel industry this means that it must coordinate the information and products it offers to an even greater degree. Today the path a customer takes before ultimately booking a trip is no longer difficult to understand. Big data offers a wealth of information, helping to better understand customer behavior. This helps to significantly improve the dialogue with the customer and enables the travel industry to tailor its products accordingly, which in the medium term can potentially boost sales. For the tourism industry, rapidly developing omni-channel marketing instruments such as real-time advertising and user centric marketing are becoming more and more important.

This year, ITB Berlin will kick off with an event on the topical subject of omni-channel marketing featuring high-ranking participants. Digital omni-channel marketing has combined the various methods of addressing the customer to a greater degree than the previous model of multi-channel marketing. For the tourism industry, rapidly developing omni-channel marketing instruments such as real-time advertising and user centric marketing are becoming more and more important. Among those taking part in the new ITB Summit on 4 March 2014 from 2 to 6 p.m. will be Facebook’s Head of Travel Lee McCabe, who will talk about the prospects for social media securing new customers. Rounding off the programme will be a thought-provoking discussion at which members of various parts of the media will debate the future of marketing communications.

Gabriel Arsene: Do you consider that the German travel market (in- and outgoing) developed during the years after each edition of ITB, or the ITB developed studying the trends of the German and International travel market?

David Ruetz: ITB Berlin unites supply and demand from around the world. In doing so, it always provided significant impetus for growth – not only for the German market. ITB Berlin kicks off the travel season around the globe. No other place in the world gathers so many leading representatives from the private and public sector. This is where the tone is set for the future of travel for a billion people every year. In 2013, ITB Berlin attracted over 110,000 trade visitors, of whom about 40 per cent come from abroad. The large part of international buyers is proof that ITB Berlin is the most important marketplace for the global travel industry.

Gabriel Arsene: Where would you place ITB Berlin 2014, the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show, within the complex International travel market?

David Ruetz: ITB Berlin is truly the world’s leading travel trade show. Every year ITB Berlin creates the best B2B platform enabling its exhibitors from all over the world to initiate excellent business dealings and make first-class contacts. All sectors of the leisure and corporate travel market are represented. The volume of business negotiated and concluded at the show is in the order of six billion Euros. This is impressive proof that ITB Berlin gives exhibitors’ business a long-term boost. In addition, ITB Berlin offers an ideal fixed costs ratio compared to the volume of business initiated measured against the number of buyers (cost per contact), ideal services and infrastructure. It also stages one of the world’s largest and most important tourism conventions with over 21,000 participants. It is recognized as the leading think tank of the global travel industry and addresses the most important issues in this industry. It presents solutions and best practice examples for current and future challenges. Exclusive empirical studies, expert panelists and innovative concepts offer indispensable insights into the major trends of the global tourism industry and also provide specific guidance on how this could relate to the own business.

Gabriel Arsene: Do you have any statistics or information regarding Romania's presence at ITB, during the years? Do you see Romania as an Official Partner Country? What steps should take the Romanian National Tourism Authority in this regard?

David Ruetz: Romania is one of the first exhibitors of ITB Berlin. Since many years Romania´s participation at ITB Berlin with a booth of 400 square meters is impressive. This year, an all-new, smaller-sized hall has been set up for Europe (Hall 7.2b), which will be home to Romania. The new hall layout with its geographical divisions makes it easier for visitors to find their way around. It shortens the distances they need to cover, thus giving them more time to find out about new things and have in-depth meetings. We hope that Romania will do even better business this year due to this improvement.

Each year ITB Berlin receives applications from a number of countries for a partnership. The choice of the official partner country is determined by several factors, including a particular country's long-term strategy and a clearly defined concept for its appearance at ITB Berlin. The costs incurred by the guest country depend on the scope of the presentation but can be expected to amount to at least several million Euros. The organisation of the opening event is one of the partner country’s “obligations”. The country is also expected to take over a share of the convention activities, rent highly visible advertising areas on the Exhibition Grounds and stage various events in and around Berlin. If Romania is interested in being a partner country, we surely can offer an attractive package. There is no specific procedure for selecting the partner country at ITB Berlin. Informal consultations should be the first step.

ITB Berlin 2013: Ziua 3, noi printre ei...

Ţin să repet, nu sunt la ITB Berlin, deşi doream să ajung, dar asta nu mă împiedică să vă ofer câteva ştiri zilnic, pentru că oricum informaţiile care vin de acolo sunt rarefiate când vine vorba despre prezenţa românească, fiind de fapt aproape o regulă la marile reuniuni internaţionale!

De ce repet? Pentru că deşi am fost foarte clar încă de la prima postare, am primit câteva întrebări concrete, la care din păcate nu pot să răspund. Una dintre ele este legată de o "ştire" oferită de corespondentul RFI la Berlin, William Totok. Căutând domnia sa o ştire negativă, a găsit: <<Deşi materialul publicitar oferit vizitatorilor s-a îmbunătăţit, continuă să existe lacune majore. Mai ales în ceea ce priveşte traducerile unor broşuri şi pliante în limba germană. Aceste materiale creează uneori impresia că turismul românesc e incompatibil cu gramatica germană. Astfel, broşura intitulată "Rumänien–entdecke den Garten der Karpathen" ("România-descoperă grădina Carpaţilor"), editată de Ministerul Dezvoltării Regionale şi Turismului, ar trebui subintitulată: "descoperă greşelile de gramatică". Aproape că nu există o propoziţie corectă în această broşură, care ar trebui să fie o oglindă de atractivitate din toate punctele de vedere. Realizatorii traducerii încă n-au aflat că în germană numele munţilor Carpaţi (Karpaten) nu se mai scrie cu "th", ca pe vremea lui Goethe, ci simplu, cu un "t".>> La o asemenea greşeală "majoră" descoperită mă aşteptam sincer şi la o poză sau scanare a broşurii "incriminate" postată lângă text. Nu este. Sincer, am căutat eu răspunsul şi încă nu l-am găsit. În varianta electronică este vorba de Karpaten, dar recunosc că se poate "greşi" în serie până la tipar, deşi nu e plauzibil! Vom afla curând răspunsul.

Nu iau apărarea nimănui, dar haideţi să nu pierdem timpul (preţios, pentru mai toţi) căutând prostioare... prin standurile din "plexic" ale firmelor româneşti de turism care au ajuns în capitala Germaniei. Plexic = exprimare ce aparţine, de ani buni, oficialilor din turismul nostru care întocmesc caietele de sarcini, dar n-au omologat încă termenul la Academia Română, secţia lingvistică! Prezenţa românească la ITB Berlin 2013 are însă greşeli majore, conceptuale!

Radu Ioan Zaharie

Da, dacă a fost Ziua 3 la ITB Berlin 2013, a fost şi prima prezenţă românească notabilă, adică menţionată în programele oficiale ale ITB. Radu Ioan Zaharie, director şi ghid de circuite al agenţiei de turism turoperatoare Inter Pares, din Sibiu, a fost printre cei trei participanţi la discuţia publică IT'S THE TOUR GUIDE, STUPID! – INTERCULTURAL TOUR GUIDE QUALIFICATION, BRIDGING THE CULTURAL GAP, moderată de: Dr. Dietmar Quist, membru al board-ului Institutului German pentru Turism and Dezvoltare. Îl felicit, fără să îl cunosc direct, pe Radu Zaharie, pentru că a umplut o filă aproape albă a prezenţei româneşti active, la ITB 2013.

Aproape albă, pentru că a mai fost un element care a adus România pe traseu... Pe traseul Dunării! Într-un efort comun, pornit de sârbi, al celor 8 ţări prin care trece Dunărea, la ITB s-a dorit exprimarea diversităţii culturale, a tradiţiilor şi a aspectelor culinare specifice acestor ţări, şi s-au organizat pentru doritori tururi ale standurilor Germaniei, Austriei, Ungariei, ale oraşului şi regiunii Bratislava din Slovacia, ale Serbiei, României, Bulgariei şi Moldovei. Participanţii la tururi au fost anunţaţi că vor primi în aceste standuri informaţii despre programele specifice fiecărei ţări, în ceea ce priveşte Dunărea. Nu ştim ce s-a întâmplat la standul românesc, dar ai noştri erau pregătiţi cel puţin cu un loc de vizionare al unor filme, probabil cu Delta Dunării.

Azi sunt darnic cu laudele, pentru că printre cele 50 de firme româneşti, s-a strecurat una care chiar prezintă un produs naţional aproape unic. Excepţia este firma Bran din Satu Mare, care a dus la Berlin ţuică, promovând astfel un produs tradiţional!
Cam atât pentru moment.