Socialtours made their mark at ITB Berlin 2012

socialtours | nepal stand at ITB 2012

With our presence in recent years at ITB and for the second time with our own stand this year in the Eco & Adventure Hall, the world's leading travel trade show has become a regular meeting point for both old and new friends of Nepal.

We were again very happy with our attendance at ITB – some very promising and exciting new contacts were made and the quality of discussions were very high.

The goal of an event like this isn't to just to make business - though that can happen too - but to meet people face to face – and we enjoyed every minute of it! 

Go Local presentation on the Eco & Adventure Stage

This year's highlights for us included the presentation on Go Local Series – There's some great new stuff coming to discover hidden secrets, for example trekking with a monk and travelling the new metro in Delhi with a local guide, as part of our Green Triangle tours. The presentation slides will be available online very soon. 

This year ITB Berlin also featured some very interesting RT Clinics at The Blue Yonder Stand during the three trade visitor days, where experts shared their experiences, offered practical tips and responded to questions on how to put responsible tourism measures into practice. The clinics turned out to be a very good experiment and we will definitely make them more prominent next year as part of the official RT programme.

RT Clinic at The Blue Yonder stand

See the RT Clinic with Helena Egan, Head of Destination Marketing, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, presenting TripAdvisor reviews and impacts on businesses here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX9Y2z4q5bk&feature=youtu.be 

The role story telling has in promoting responsible tourism businesses by Zainab Kakal, Chief Enthusiasm Officer at The Blue Yonder provided some really good insights from different stakeholders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=jLrRDG0aNrg

This year the RT Networking Event and Inspirational Stories presentation was organised by The Green Circuit, The Blue Yonder and Tripbod with support from Pocket Village, and our media partner VISION TravelMole.

The event was live streamed and you can watch the whole recording from it here (60 minutes): http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/20986768. It was also great to see the pitches - people taking the stage and letting others know what they do - perfect opportunity to tell your story and connect with others who think alike.

The one conclusion again is that we need to be there! We are making the mark and getting more visibility every year. ITB is the perfect occasion to strengthen our network. When people make their future travel plans with responsible focus, we want to be the first to come to their mind. All in all, very successful event - "after the trade show is before the trade show" - see you again in ITB 2013.