Greek Tourism Sector in Germany for ITB Berlin 2019 Trade Show

The vast majority of Greece’s tourism professionals will be in Germany these days to attend the must-see event in Berlin, the ITB Berlin exhibition, running from Wednesday, March 6 until Sunday, March 10, at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds.

The 53rd edition of the trade show will welcome some 10,000 exhibiting companies from 181 countries and regions. Last year’s expo attracted 170,000 visitors, including 110,000 trade visitors.

The 2019 trade event will kick off for Greece with the inauguration of the Visit Greece (Greek National tourism Organization – GNTO) stand — Hall 1.1/101, 101A — on Wednesday by Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura.

The minister will represent Greece throughout the exhibition and let the world know that Greece is open 365 days a year to welcome tourists. Minister Kountoura this year has a full agenda at ITB that includes her participation in major industry events and a number of scheduled meetings to promote new partnerships in 2019.

Greece’s stand will host the country’s regions, hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, etc.

Events @ Visit Greece stand

Various events will take place at the Visit Greece stand during ITB Berlin, including a presentation of the Greek Breakfast initiative by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (Wednesday, between 11am – 12 noon); a screening of Greece’s new tourism promotional campaign “Oh My Greece | Unlock the Feeling”, launched by Marketing Greece (Thursday, at 1:30pm); and a workshop by the Region of Attica to introduce “Authentic Athens and the treasures of Attica Land” to major German tourism professionals.

Greece and the German market

Greece is participating in the show following last year’s record in tourism which saw some 33 million people visiting Greek destinations. In 2018, the country counted more than 16 billion euros in revenues.

According to Bank of Greece data, inbound visitors to Greece in 2018 rose by 10.8 percent compared to the year before. The largest increase of visitors came from Germany (18.2 percent rise to 4.5 million).

Regarding the German market, bookings show that fewer Germans will travel out of their country this year. However, according to tour operators, Greece and Turkey are the only countries until now that are recording an upward trend in bookings.

Industry insiders told GTP Headlines that a small rise from the German market is in fact expected for Greece this year (some five million tourists).

Moreover, insiders said that the number of scheduled seats from Germany to 18 regional airports in Greece has risen by 65,000.