Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA recently attended ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel fair.  The international travel market proved to be highly competitive, with 189 countries on-hand to promote their destinations to 174,000 attendees.  The VISIT FLORIDA booth was the largest in the Brand USA pavilion, with 95 Florida industry representatives.

The first three days of the travel show are dedicated to trade professionals only, while the latter two days are designed to spotlight destinations to consumers. VISIT FLORIDA staff had a full schedule of over 40 appointments with major airlines, tour operators and online travel agents.  In addition to the trade appointments, VISIT FLORIDA’s German representation, LMG Management, scheduled appointments with 19 key journalists and bloggers on the trade show floor.

VISIT FLORIDA hosted our signature travel trade and media event, providing partners the opportunity to network with nearly 150 key European travel trade and journalists in a unique atmosphere.  The event was held in the Pan Am Lounge at House Eden, the apartment building used in the 60’s and 70’s to house flight crew from the famous Pan American Airways.  The lounge has retained the furnishings, atmosphere and staff uniforms to reflect the era of its heyday.  VISIT FLORIDA would like to thank SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, who were celebrating their 50th anniversary, for their headline sponsorship of this memorable  event.

Also during ITB Berlin, VISIT FLORIDA and four of our industry Partners sponsored the Tom on Tours and Diversity Tourism LGBT Party.  As headline sponsor of the Night-Flight Over Berlin event held at the Golden Tulip, VISIT FLORIDA has marked the beginning of a partnership dedicated to serving the international LGBT travel community.

According to the official closing report, this year’s ITB Berlin reported a four percent rise in trade visitors and an increase in business volume, which Messe Berlin estimates reached 6.5 billion euros.  The total number of exhibitors was 10,147, covering an exhibition area of 160,000 square meters.

To learn more about VISIT FLORIDA’s international marketing efforts, check out our online Marketing Planner or contact me at aabney@visitflorida.org.