To be successful in the online travel industry it is important to keep pace with innovations and stay in touch with the latest trends and developments. As the world’s leading travel trade show, ITB Berlin is committed to the ongoing development of the industry and therefore supports the first VIR Online Innovation Days, organised by the Association of Internet Travel Marketing (VIR).
The online travel industry will be meeting on 16 and 17 June 2010 at the Marshall-Haus on the Messe Berlin exhibition grounds. Following extensive renovation three years ago the historic Marshall-Haus, a listed building since1988, is now available again as an event venue and will be playing host to market leaders and newcomers to e-tourism during the VIR Online Innovation Days.

During this year’s event the winners of the “Sprungbrett 2010” (Springboard) competition will be chosen for the third time. The first prize, in the category of “Best Start-up Company”, has been donated by ITB Berlin: The winners will have a choice of staging a press conference or having a fully equipped stand at the upcoming travel trade fair in 2011. There will also be a cash prize of 5,000 euros from the co-sponsor HRS for the winners.

“The potential in the online travel sector has by no means been exhausted – and that is something that we notice from the increase-ing number of enquiries about ITB Berlin and the ITB Convention”, says Dr. Martin Buck, Director of the Competence centre Travel and Logistics at Messe Berlin. “However, success today depends on the ability to develop innovative ideas that are of genuine use to customers. And every good business idea still has its origins in a personal exchange of views and wide-ranging discussions with industry insiders, for which the VIR Online Innovation Days provide the ideal conditions.”

For the VIR, the association representing the online travel industry, Messe Berlin provides the perfect venue for this industry event: “With its ITB Berlin, a leading annual event, Messe Berlin has become firmly established as a meeting place for the travel trade. There is no better place for transferring the online world into the offline sector than the Marshall-Haus, situated in the middle of the exhibition grounds”, says Michael Buller, a member of the VIR board.

The VIR Online Innovation Days provide a platform where forward-looking company founders can exchange views and make contact with decision-makers in the travel trade. The panel discussions, papers and the presentation of new studies provide participants with an opportunity to examine topical issues in e-tourism. Quality assurance regularly features on the agenda as a means of creating greater confidence among vacationers in the internet and its possibilities for obtaining information and making travel bookings.

For the third time, the winners of the current “Sprungbrett 2010” competition will be chosen during the first of this year’s VIR Online Innovation Days. With this prize VIR seeks to lend encouragement and support to people with innovative ideas and to the founders of new tourism businesses in the online field. The previous winners have included TrustYou GmbH and Eat-the-World.