A lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, Brexit, the Royal Family, travels around the world, Europe, and being British in Berlin!
OMG!
I’m enormously excited!
And why?
The ITB travel trade fair is going to be in town.
Yeeeeeeeees!
Gosh!
Just last week, I told you about the glamour of the Berlin International Film Festival, otherwise known as the Berlinale?
Now this!
Before I became the awesome travel blogger that I am today, I used to attend the ITB as an ordinary member of the public.
It was one of the highlights of my year!
And let me tell you, it still is!
I mean, thousands of international travel organisations and travel destinations are going to be in the city, looking to present the best parts of their country, or industry.
And yours truly will be among them.
Last year, was one of the most successful ITB travel trade conferences that I have ever attended!
In fact, I had so many appointments which had me going from floor to floor, that even though I used the press shuttle bus, my feet swelled up ‘cos I was wearing ankle boots, and I tend to walk like a man!
My Blogger Speed Dating appointment sheet was filled to the brim with Destinations & Marketing people wanting to meet me face-to-face, and I was invited to so many After-Hours parties, it became quite over-whelming…
Not only that, but a book author reached out to me and asked for one of my old Scotland photographs to be added to their book for a film tour, so perhaps the next time you go to the Scottish Highlands, you could be looking at one of my photographs!
But most endearing of all, as I was browsing through the Poland section, looking for destination information, one of the girls started staring.
I gave her my business card to give to her boss, and she just started screaming!
She recognised my name and was thrilled and excited to finally meet and see the writer of THAT post! She told her neighbours and they all began rushing to take photographs & giggling!
I mean, that post now has over one hundred and twenty-three thousand (123,000) views!
Apparently. In Poland, I’m a bit of a notorious star!
And the title of said piece: Going to Poland: 10 reasons not to go!
This year, I’m once again, all ready and organised.
Now that I’m a professional blogger don’t you know, I get to have internal access to all that the travel industry has to offer.
If you’re reading about the ITB for the first time, here’s what I previously wrote:
But it doesn’t hurt to reiterate the facts:
The ITB Berlin stands for the Internationale Tourismus-Börse or in English, the international tourism trade fair.
The ITB represents B2B, hotels, tourists boards, tour operators and providers, airlines, transport operators, responsible travel organisers, information technology experts, social media bloggers, and anybody else interested in travel and tourism.
It’s also the world’s leading travel industry think tank, in which the convention trade fair establishes itself as the industry’s main knowledge platform, with top-notch presentations on global trends, travel innovations and path-breaking events for the entire tourism industry!
Phew!
Well, the ITB Berlin is the foremost business platform for the global tourism business. We’re talking:
Omigosh!
If you’re at the ITB, you’re in good company.
And the official Partner Region for ITB 2018 is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Best of Northern Germany.
Exciting!
The name ITB Berlin stands for a unique success story and things that are made in Berlin.
What began in 1966, as a small overseas import trade show, has developed into a true global success.
What originally, was only an event of five (5) participating countries and regions, has grown to over 180 with an exhibition space expanding from 580 m² to 160,000 m² today!
In more than five (5) decades, so many societal and political changes have taken place. As far as the tourism industry is concerned, Germany has developed into one of the world’s most important economic factors!
Today, the ITB Berlin is the leading trade show of the travel industry and, at the same time, the biggest travel show for the German public!
However, it’s a huge venue and there have been incidents of people wandering around and not actually getting to where they wanted to go!
Not naming names or anything, so here’s a few tips on how to navigate your way around!
Trade visitors: 7th – 11th March, 2018. 09:30 – 18:00
The general public: 10th – 11th March, 2018. 10:00 – 18:00
Journalists and bloggers: 6th – 11th March, 2018. 08:00 – 18:00
You can buy tickets at the Exhibition Grounds – or save time and money and buy them in advance at the Online Ticket Shop. Entrance for Trade Visitors / Press to the ITB Berlin Convention is included in the price of your trade fair ticket.
Trade Fair Visitors:
The General Public.
p.s. You should also be able to buy a €12.00 ticket from any BVG/SBahn ticket machine. And if you live in Berlin, watch out for the free voucher that sometimes comes, via free delivery of the weekend edition of the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper!
If you’re a trade visitor or a member of the press, then there is a free ITB shuttle service that will take you from the airport, from selected hotels and from various stops around the city to the ITB Exhibition Ground. If you’re using the city shuttle line service, please note that the stops are not marked as ITB Berlin stops, but are selected buses at the regular bus stops of the Berlin Public Transport System, otherwise known as the BVG!
You can find bus stops at:
Line A
Line B
There are seven (7) entrances, but to give you a better insight you can download a map of the exhibition ground:
The ITB venue is pretty huge so within the exhibition ground itself, you can use the free ITB fairground shuttles that will transport you from Hall to Hall!
If you’re not using any of the above, or you’re a member of the general public, then you need to get yourself to the following public transport stations. Don’t forget to get a ticket!
There’s no need to panic though, as the city of Berlin provides an extensive public transport network, but make sure you read this post as to how to buy a daily ticket, as Berlin doesn’t have any barriers, and you don’t want to get caught out without a ticket now, do you?
The stations that you need to get to are:
See you at the ITB!
This article isn’t sponsored, and the remarkable time that I’m sure to have at the ITB Berlin, is my very own!
I’ll be continuing my last visit to the UK and telling you all about my visit to Belgium later in the season!I’ll be at the ITB Berlin or the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin – the world’s leading travel trade show, taking place between 7th – 11th March, 2018. You can buy tickets here.
Everyone who is anyone in the travel industry, will be here. Come and join us!
In April, I’ll be on the road again to my 65th country and a new destination.
Can you guess which one it’ll be?
I’ll be there. Will you?If you’re not in Berlin in March, I can’t even!See you next week!
Watch this space!
Note! I never travel without insurance as you never know what might happen.
I learnt my lesson in Spain. And obviously, in countries like Qatar, where technically the risk is higher, I can’t imagine going that far beyondWITHOUT INSURANCE. No siree! You can get yours here, at World Nomads!
Please note that there are now affiliate links (for the very first time) connected to this post. Please consider using the links, because every time some sort of accommodation or travel insurance is booked via my links, I get a little percentage, but at no extra cost to yourself!
A win-win for all!
Thanks a million!
Wow! This is the most comprehensive guide for Berlin I’ve read in a while, Vic! Exceptional tips for first timers and I hope to explore this wonderful city soon again!
Thanks so much Agness! That was what I hoped!
And whenever you’re in town, don’t forget to let me know so that I can take you out for lunch! 😀
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Read this the first time I went to the ITB! So helpful! ❤
Aww! Thank so much Carolyn!
I’m so pleased. I think lots of other people thought so too. 😀
See you next week!