Travel Industry Main Events in Europe

As autumn approaches, I know it’s a crucial time of year to make the right decisions for your brand and position your business for success in 2015.
That’s why I’ve gathered together the latest up-to-the-minute industry information you need to stay ahead of the curve. Don’t miss your chance to benchmark your strategies and network with the best minds in online travel. Join upcoming travel industry main events in Europe for autumn and spring ahead:
• Online Marketing, Mobile & Social Media in Travel Summit 2014
October 1-2, Berlin
With more CMOs and SVPs than ever before, Europe's premier event for social media, mobile and online marketing professionals from across the travel industry is back for another successful year. Gain vital insights into how to invest your marketing spend.
http://events.eyefortravel.com/online-marketing-and-social-media/
• World Travel Market
November 3-6, ExCeL - London
World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. More than 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL - London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
WTM, now in its 35th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM 2013 generated more than £2.2 billion of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.
http://www.wtmlondon.com
• Smart Travel Analytics Europe 2014 (including RM & Pricing)
November 24-25, Amsterdam
Smart Travel Analytics 2014 sees two co-located conferences for the Travel – one examining Data and Analytics and the other on Pricing, Yield and Revenue Management. Learn how to combine Big data and analytics to better understand your customers and provide more highly targeted products at the right price. Getting the right price to the right customer at the right time has never been harder. This event combines the latest research on these themes to give you the right tools to succeed.
http://events.eyefortravel.com/smart-travel-analytics-europe/
• EyeforTravel@Mobile World Congress 2015
March 2, Barcelona
Savvy travel brands are reaping the rewards of investing in mobile. Getting the right mobile strategy in place to suit your brand & is arguably the most important task for 2015. This one day executive conference located at the heart of MWC brings together top mobile travel brand experts to share essential insights, tips and case studies.
http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile-world-congress/
• ITB Berlin 2015
March 4-8, Messe - Berlin
ITB Berlin 2015 will take place from Wednesday to Sunday, 4 to 8 March. From the Wednesday to the Friday ITB Berlin is open to trade visitors only. The ITB Berlin Convention is held parallel with the trade fair, from Wednesday to Saturday, 4 to 7 March 2015. It is the world’s largest specialist convention for the industry. More details are available at www.itb-convention.com. ITB Berlin is the leading trade fair for the worldwide travel industry. In 2014 a total of 10,147 companies and organisations from 189 countries exhibited their products and services to 174,000 visitors, who included 114,000 trade visitors.
http://www.itb-berlin.com
• Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2015
May 6-7, Hilton Tower Bridge, London
The decisions you make in e-commerce, mobile, social media, data, analytics, RM and channel management will be key to success in 2015 and beyond. Don’t fall behind your competitors, meet, network and learn from 500+ of the best minds in online travel. Now in its 18th year, this event provides essential insights and networking, at a great value rate.
http://events.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-europe/
More to come…

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.