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Forward-looking, creative ideas on sustainability: ITB Berlin and the Berlin Travel Festival support ’The Social Entrepreneurship in Tourism’ competition

For the second time Travel Massive, Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde (HNEE), ITB Berlin and the Berlin Travel Festival are joining forces to organise The Social Entrepreneurship in Tourism competition. It is the first and only one of its kind in the world and recognises social innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism. In particular, it addresses the problems that arise from tourism development and looks for innovative solutions for industry, government institutions, NGOs and municipalities.

The timing is apt: on 27 June the United Nations held MSME Day, honouring enterprises from micro-companies to SMEs for the part they play in the global economy. Particularly against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, the occasion also shone a light on how small companies around the world are being impacted by the situation. The fact that compared with big industry players they have no lobbies and relatively small financial resources ultimately makes them very vulnerable. Rika Jean-Francois, the CSR commissioner of ITB, was among those who gave a talk at the video launch of the International Trade Center (ITC). The World’s Largest Travel Trade Show is strongly committed to supporting sustainable tourism. She stressed that in order to become resilient in the long term a globally coordinated approach was needed which embraced both environmental and socially responsible strategies and also stood for emancipation.

As of 22 June candidates have been invited to submit their ideas for the competition. The deadline for entries is 25 July 2020. This will be followed by an initial round of voting and a second phase in which ten finalists will take part. On 21 September 2020 a virtual award ceremony will be held. For more information please visit...
An industry comes back to life: How the tourism industry is preparing for the ‘new normal’ in travel

The last few months have been a real turning point for the industry. Never before has the world stood still, and along with it the possibilities for travel. In retrospect, the plight of the holidaymakers who were stranded in Spain under a volcanic ash cloud now seems trivial compared with the impact of recent times. While shutting down tourism and aviation at the start of the outbreak was a logistical tour de force, the effort needed now to restart these industries is much greater. In addition to the obvious tasks of organising staff and logistics, the main goal is to win back holidaymakers. A lot of people still recall the images of stranded travellers back in March – many of whom are still waiting on a refund for forfeited flights and package tours. However, with no bookings in sight companies lack the cash flow to make payments – very much a vicious circle.

Hence the industry is looking at new ways to motivate hesitant holidaymakers to book trips. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr for instance recently promised customers that his airline would fly any travellers back home who had been denied entry to their holiday destination because of the coronavirus. Other industry players quickly followed suit. DER Touristik, the German-based tour operator, also gave a virtually cast-iron pledge to bring its customers safely home – regardless of the circumstances. Other countries have put forward similar plans. Tourism professionals in charge of major travel destinations solemnly swear they will do everything to ensure visitors can enjoy a pleasant stay and will take care of them if a serious situation arises due to the coronavirus. Thus the...
An exotic experience at home: Faced with closed borders and uncertainty over foreign travel requirements, holidaymakers are discovering the benefits of local destinations

Longing for home: amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic travellers around the world are significantly changing their habits. Against a backdrop of closed borders and continually changing travel requirements holidaying at home is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition. Tour operators are making efforts to foresee changing cross-border travel requirements so that customers can better plan their trips abroad. However, in Germany a large number of travellers are already turning their attention to local destinations. These are among the findings of a recent survey by the HRS Group, which concluded that Germans are particularly keen on the coast and the regions near the Alps.

Compared with recent years the domestic tourism industry faces big challenges – including having to target a much wider range of customers than before. In Germany that means addressing those customers who had originally wanted to spend their holidays abroad. These are travellers who are not necessarily keen on guest houses and holiday apartments. Often, it is unconventional types of accommodation that they demand. One of them is glamping, which comes from ‘camping’ and ‘glamour’. As the name suggests, this type of holiday combines maximum freedom with certain basic comforts. Corresponding travel products can be found on the website of Glamping.info, for example.

This combination of simplicity and extravagance can also be found in completely different forms of accommodation. Aside from luxury tents, options include American retro-style motorhomes or treehouses in the woods. A few months ago, two entrepreneurs opened similar accommodation on the North Sea coast....

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