ITB Berlin to Hold LGBT Workshops in Japan

ITB Berlin, one of the major international travel trade shows, on August 23 and 24 will host two workshops on lesbian and gay travel for the first time in Japan.

A half-day event will be held in Tokyo on August 23, while a day later visitors will be able to find out more about the globally expanding LGBT market in the Imperial City of Kyoto.

ITB Berlin is scheduled to take place between March 7 and 11, 2018. Parallel to the show, the ITB Berlin Convention, the largest event of its kind, will be held on March 7-10. In 2017 a total of 10,000 companies and organizations from 184 countries exhibited their products and services to around 169,000 visitors, who included 109,000 trade visitors, organizer Messe Berlin said in an announcement.

ITB Berlin is a strong supporter of human rights in tourism, both of travelers and local residents. During the LGBT Academy on August 23-24, 2017, the general manager of Diversity Tourism in Munich Thomas Bömkes will introduce the LGBT segment of the ITB Berlin. He will be followed by Tom Roth, president of Community Marketing in San Francisco who, taking current market surveys, best practices and case studies into account, will show how companies and regions can actively attract LGBT tourism.

Other scheduled events include the presentation of the 2nd UNWTO Global Report on LGBT Tourism. Visitors can also gain an insight into the work of LGBT travel network IGLTA Japan, into case studies by Hornet Media, which is specializing in gay social networks, and Gay Travel Nepal.

A number of Q&A panel discussions will wrap up the events in Tokyo and Kyoto respectively.