3…2…1…. That was the final countdown expected by the international tourism market until 9th March and the Internationalen Tourismus Börse (ITB) did actually start in Berlin.

Facts and figures overwhelmed and stifled afterwards: the general outcomes of the ITB 2011 may be transferred in algebraic forms with the aid of an imposing sum of 11,163 exhibitors coming from 188 countries, 110.791 trade visitors, 7.000 accredited journalists from 94 countries and almost 60.000 people (general public). As a B2B marketplace, ITB is estimated to have hosted 40 per cent of buyers from abroad with a volume much bigger than 6.000.000.000 euros. This is the bottom-line and the main aspect discussed in many articles or further analyzed.

But how did we get to this point? Let’s have a look at all the nouns following the numbers mentioned above. We talked about exhibitors, countries, trade visitors, journalists, people and general public, all of them in a common marketplace where everything lasted for five consecutive days. The common aspect underlying the rationale described here is the human element. The 28-hall-allocated exhibition at “Messe Berlin” was full of light and sound,

multilingual interactions and colourfull appearances, positive mood here and there (despite the tragic phenomena in Japan - earthquake and tsunami - that coincided with the events and overshadowed global community). An international setting had been built and people painted it in various shades and tones. The multicultural atmosphere dominated the city of Berlin, as well, which was feeling the rhythm of the ITB, especially its West side.

When the lights turned off, all the halls, stands, salons and kiosks had nothing to show. Messe in Charlottenburg seemed to be void of soul. It was the time when tourism networking continued to take place, this time not in exhibition halls but in the streets of Berlin, in restaurants and bars. The puzzle of countries was formulated day and night, again and again when taxi-drivers kindly asked “did you come for the tourism exhibition?”, hoteliers wondered “where are you from? do you represent your country in ITB?” or even at the point of realizing that a group of people on Kurfürstendamm stopped walking and waved at you because they had already heard you speaking the same language. These were the extra-moments to share; meetings and reunions between people and among nations.

Tourism connects and brings together different mindsets. Its intense human touch is a key-characteristic which makes the sector unique. Additionally, in a transaction-based logic, business can be better developed if it is dominated by an extrovert character; and tourism is! Among others, ITB visitors should benefit to that extent.

As one of them and parallel to the 45th ITB, I tried to combine my visit to Berlin with a speech at a special conference on nation branding and cultural diplomacy as well as with fruitful networking. My personal bottom-line would be summarized as a mixture of new colleagues to cooperate, new partners to start business, new friends to communicate with, new contacts to share, a lot of stimuli accumulated and many more memories to remember. Last but not least, I could not miss a virtual tour around the globe walking around the halls in ITB… still a challenge even if you visit an exhibition for business reasons.

I hope that you did really enjoy our trip “In Tourism & Beyond” and if you cannot wait for next year’s ITB to come, the only thing you have to do is to keep in touch with your colleagues and business partners, strengthen your network and be seriously marketing-prepared because the new countdown has already started on the ITB 2012 official website!