Arrived in Berlin yesterday, my annual pilgrimage to this city to attend the world’s largest travel trade fair and thinking, it’s amazing how everything’s changed yet nothing has.
As usual, I meet fellow travel colleagues on the flight. And as usual, the same conversations are struck up.
“How are you?” (The answer is obvious from the red eyes and crumpled look after a long flight but no, we hardened road warriors say, “I am good. You?”)
“How’s business?” (I asked that of a hotelier from Bangkok and he, the hardened general manager that he is, replies, “It’s okay, considering …”)
I am always proud of my Bangkok hotelier friends – they have had to go through such ups and downs and they take everything in their stride. It must be the chillies in their food although I learnt recently that Thais are not the biggest consumers of chillies – apparently, India consumes and produces 90% of the world’s chillies.
“Where are you staying?” (This is an interesting question provided you ask that of someone who’s always trying out new properties and not someone who sticks to one hotel all the time. I have to confess that after two decades of staying in different hotels every year, I have now settled for the Scandic at Potsdamer Platz (view from my hotel, pictured below) the last three years because I am tired of figuring out each time how the wifi works or where the plugs are. In old hotels, you often have to crawl under the bed to find the electrical outlets.)
“I’m trying out a new place near the Ku’damm,” says my friend. “To be closer to Ka De We.”
I like that he’s got his priorities right. I will, as usual, meet him, I am sure, at the best food place in the city. It’s our annual homage to the roast chicken. Something about the “huhn” in Berlin that gets me … the one other thing I like about the Scandic, now that I am a frequent guest, is they get my name right and I don’t have to be called Mrs Huhn anymore. I don’t like being called chicken in any culture.
“When do you leave?” This is a must-ask because right after you say hello, you have to know when to say goodbye. In the past, being a novice, I used to stay till the bitter end – now I know better and I leave before the exodus.
“Where are you going right after?” This is a good question because inevitably if you are coming out from Asia to Berlin, then you want to spend more time on the continent.
There are a few things that have changed though about the show. The technology section has definitely grown, which is one key reason why the show remains relevant to me.
But for those suppliers from Asia whose business from Europe has shrunk as a proportion of overall customer mix, ITB Berlin has become less and less relevant. And with the consolidation of tour operators on the continent, there isn’t that critical mass of buyers to make the expenses of a trip to Berlin worthwhile.
Said one tour operator specializing in adventure holidays in Asia, when I asked her why she was no longer attending ITB, “In the past, there were a lot more specialist operators looking for interesting itineraries. Now most of them have either been sold to the big operators like TUI or they’ve gone out of business so it doesn’t make sense for a small operator like us to go. Besides, we have more business coming out from Asia now.”
So while some conversations have not changed, the over-arching narrative has.
Now, time to go out and hit the streets of Berlin before the circus begins tomorrow.
