ITB Berlin 2007:Young Germany continues to expand

Entire range of travel for young people at Youth Incoming Germany (YIG) Workshop in Hall 4.1

More additions to the ITB platform for youth travel in the sections devoted to school trips, language study travel and the hostel scene – Virtual presentations available online at www.y-i-g.de

The platform devoted to Youth Travel continues to expand: In its third year the Youth Incoming Germany Workshop, known as YIG for short, has seen increases in the areas devoted to cities, hostels and the partner state Schleswig-Holstein in particular. The workshop forms a separate exhibition area during the trade visitor days at the ITB Berlin, from 7 to 9 March, and includes specialist programmes and excursions as well as many B2B events. The growing numbers of exhibitors offering facilities for young people visiting Germany reflects the positive trend among service providers in the youth incoming section of travel to Germany.

“Youth Travel” platform has been a real success story

The idea for a YIG workshop was launched in 2004 with just nine exhibitors. Now the workshop area known as the “Germany Boulevard for Youth Travel” features displays by all the German federal states with the exception of the city states, the German National Tourist Board DZT, and 38 associations and companies from Germany and Austria. One man who is delighted by the rapid expansion of the YIG workshop is Oliver Winter. The 31-year old was one of the originators of this attempt to provide a stimulus and a source of new ideas. His chain of hostels and hotels has now become a joint stock company and Winter himself has made remarkable progress in this field, having started with the A&O hostel in Berlin and 164 beds in the working class suburb of Berlin-Friedrichshain. Now there are 3.750 beds in A&O hotels and in hostels in seven establishments from the coast to the Alps. Oliver Winter has also succeeded in establishing a strong network of links throughout the youth travel scene. He is a member of the board of the travel organisation Reisenetz and a member of the marketing arm of BTM partner hotels.

Presenting accommodation in Germany

Berlin hostels, part of the marketing arm of the city tourism promotion company Berlin Tourismus Marketing (BTM) GmbH, are exhibiting at the YIG workshop for the first time this year and are largely responsible for organising the excursions around Berlin for the benefit of trade visitors from the world’s travel industry. These will take place on the Friday at the ITB Berlin (9 March, from 3 p.m.). “In addition to state and regional associations representing the German Youth Hostels Association, this year also sees an increased involvement by the German YMCA, CVJM-Gesamtverband in Deutschland e.V., Verband Deutscher Schullandheime e.V. (representing hostels in the German countryside) and city hostels in Germany, and it can therefore confidently be claimed that this represents a wide-ranging display of the accommodation available in Germany”, according to David Ruetz, Project Manager of the ITB Berlin.

Leading the field, Schleswig-Holstein as partner country in 2007

The 2006 President of the Conference of Ministers of Culture, and Minister of Education and Woman’s Affairs of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Ute Erdsiek-Rave, is acting as patron of all the events. She will also be joined by 13 exhibitors from her home state and from the state tourism agency TASH. “Families with children, single parents, youth groups and school parties all represent important target groups for Schleswig-Holstein. Children and young people are our guests of the future!”, explained Helmut Reichmann, General Manager of the youth hostel organisation Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk (DJH), Landesverband Nordmark e.V.. The presentation by this popular vacation region between two seas is a collaboration between the state’s tourism agency Tourismus-Agentur Schleswig-Holstein (TASH), the regional youth hostels organisation DJH-Landesverband, the youth organisations Landesjugendring Schleswig-Holstein e.V. and Sportjugend Schleswig-Holstein, and the State Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Families, Youth and Senior Citizens. The more than 300 facilities for young travellers, including the four youth hostels belonging to the regional organisation DJH Landesverband Nordmark, 250 recreational, holiday, training and conference centres for young people, special youth camp sites and rural hostels, as well as training ships, can all provide accommodation and leisure opportunities throughout the year and at very reasonable rates. With programmes for experiencing nature and for enjoying beaches and water sports, the coastal regions are a major attraction. Offering more than 25 such facilities the North Sea island of Sylt, for example, is an outstanding and attractive destination for young people. The opportunities for meeting and exchanging ideas with other people at these destinations helps to give young people an impression of the lifestyles and cultures of other countries. Along with education, such encounters form an important element and, as the “gateway to the North”, the state of Schleswig-Holstein is intensively engaged in efforts to promote international exchanges.

Opening press conference with the new world organisation for youth and student travel WYSE Travel Confederation

On the opening day of the ITB Berlin there will be an opportunity to get to know the exhibitors and their products at a specially organised press conference (7 March 2007, 3 p.m., Room 42 ICC) to be attended by the Director General David Jones, Minister Erdsiek-Rave and Christiane Otter from the German National Tourist Board DZT, to be followed by a tour for the press (3.45 p.m., Hall 4.1). Following the merger between the student organisation ISTC and the FIYTO, the WYSE Travel Confederation expects the business year 2007 to produce even more contracts and the signing of more contracts too.

ITB Berlin invites teachers - partnership in a youth exchange with Italy

In addition to the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the opportunities to meet with the state’s representatives, the Italian State Tourist Board ENIT is also offering guided tours of the Italian display (Hall1.2/ Stand 101) exclusively for teachers. The two-day ITB Teachers’ Symposium on “Learning while travelling” on 9 March 2007 at the “Terrazza Italia” provides an opportunity to meet with the Italian ambassador H.E. Antonio Puri Purini and Eugenio Magnani, Director General of ENIT, in order to discuss various aspects of exchange visits and the support available to the organizers of school trips.

Germany presents its federal states

The “German Youth Travel Award” for the best travel attractions for young people in Germany will be presented as part of a competition involving all the German federal states on the Friday at the ITB, 9 March, at 1 p.m. in Hall 4.1. As part of the programme of excursions for the youth travel field the German National Tourist Board (DZT) is represented by two events devoted to source markets, Italy and the Nordic countries, as well as by a paper on this specialist subject.

The dates and times of all these events, together with profiles of the exhibitors, can be found at www.y-i-g.de, and more details about the teachers’ symposium are available at www.lehrersymposium.de. Messe Berlin has also appointed the YIG project office at iNTEGRON-Institut to supply information, which can be obtained by telephoning +49(0)30/56 04 48 89 or by emailing yig@integron.de