From 7 to 11 March at the ITB Berlin 2007 the ITB Book World & Cultural Tourism will for the first time be going on display at a new location: the Palais am Funkturm It will be turned into a cultural centre (Kultur-Palais), with opportunities for visitors to discover a world of cultural attractions, and will also include a large stage hosting events and a Culture Bar on the top floor.

Exhibitors representing city and cultural tourism from Europe, Asia and Africa as well as leading travel publishers will have their products and services on display here. ARD presenter Caren Miosga, better known from her TV appearances on the culture programme “titel thesen temperamente”, will open this section of the fair during a festive ceremony at 11 a.m. on the first day of the show.

David Ruetz, Senior Manager ITB Berlin: “The mega trend that cultural tourism has become will be making a strong showing at this year’s ITB Berlin. In 2007 the new section at the Kultur-Palais am Funkturm will have an even greater range of outstanding cultural attractions on display from around the world. Entitled ‘It«s Showtime for Culture’, art and music events from around the world will provide exciting entertainment on all five days of the fair. Activities with information on current developments in international cultural tourism will round off the programme of events.”

From space tourism to fashion to large-scale festive events

Among the on-stage highlights will be a multimedia tour of space on 11 March, presented by Dana Ranga. This Berlin-based director has made a documentary about the cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov. Polyakov and his US astronaut colleague Story Musgrave have been invited to the Space Tourism event to relate their experiences and adventures in space. Together with Walter Drasl von Protoura, space tourism market leader and business partner collaborating with the European Space Agency ESA, the American Eric Anderson, CEO Space Adventures, will be telling listeners which space destinations can currently be booked, and what lies in store for the space tourist.

Also on 11 March the German relief organisation Deutsche Welthungerhilfe will be previewing a part of its “WeltGewänder” fashion collection at the show entitled “Mode auf Reisen”. This fashion collection was put together for the 2nd international competition called “WeltGewänder 2007”. On show during three presentations will be clothing made from fabrics from Mali, India and Peru.

Festive on-stage events will include celebrations honouring the fiftieth anniversary of the German Travel Journalists Association, and a VDRJ Award for Reinhold Messner in recognition of the Messner Mountain Museum (MMM), as well as the major prize-giving ceremonies “Toura d’Or”, presented by the Study Group for Tourism and Development, and the ITB Book Awards 2007. Numerous events hosted by India will be highlighting the cultural attractions of this year’s partner country.

Visitors will be handed the ITB Culture Guide presenting “Showtime for Culture”, with information on all-day programmes of events and exhibitors’ products and services. Trade visitors in search of a quiet area for talks with exhibitors will have an opportunity to do so in the Culture Bar on the top floor of the Palais. Interesting lectures and panel discussions will also be available to them. The Berlin Chamber of Commerce (IHK) will show ways of streamlining sales and marketing in this fast-growing segment that is cultural tourism.

This year’s official partner and sponsor of ITB Culture Tourism is the Munich travel operator Studiosus, who will be promoting a new market segment called “Kultimer”. Peru is the sponsor of the ITB Culture Guide.
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