Many of the halls at the ITB Berlin have been fully booked for the 2018 event.
Altogether, the show’s management expects around 10,000 exhibitors and organisations from over 180 countries and some 110,000 trade visitors to attend the 26 halls on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.
The focus is on Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the partner region of the show.
It is organising the opening event which for the first time will leave a zero-carbon footprint, setting an important trend.
Over the five days of the show the German federal state will be exhibiting its wide range of tourism products in Halls 6.2A and 4.1.
“The outstanding number of bookings this year once again underlines ITB Berlin’s role as a driving force and the event mirroring the global tourism industry.
“Particularly in an age of political unrest, overtourism and the ongoing digital transformation, the industry faces new challenges,” said David Ruetz, head of ITB Berlin.
Demand for places at ITB Berlin is particularly high from Arab countries, Asia and South America.
In Peru especially, tourism has become an increasingly important economic factor.
As an emerging travel destination, the United Arab Emirates (Hall 2.2) are now expanding into the market.
Abu Dhabi has almost doubled the size of its stand, and the displays of Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah are much larger than last year.
In Hall 26 Vietnam and Laos will be occupying more than twice the floor size of 2017.
Japan has also significantly increased its representation.
A number of exhibitors including Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Taiwan will be welcoming visitors on two-tier stands.
Egypt (Hall 4.2) will be making an emphatic return with a larger stand.
Equally, as the largest exhibitor at ITB, Turkey, will again be demonstrating that this colourful destination has lost none of its fascination.
In Hall 3.1 bookings by the US and Russia have reached last year’s levels, while waiting lists exist for Ukraine and Tajikistan.
The same applies to Nepal and Sri Lanka in Hall 5.2, where demand for individual stands is particularly high.
After long absences Belize, Guayana, French Guiana and the Turks & Caicos Islands will be returning in 2018.