Georgia will host the world’s leading tourism expo ITB Berlin next year, allowing the country to showcase its tourist destinations to a worldwide audience, Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili stated on Tuesday.
Georgia won the contest for the status of the host nation at the world’s leading travel trade expo before the pandemic, beating out countries that had made a “significant contribution” to the growth of the tourist sector, according to Davitashvili.
Davitashvili added that Georgia’s participation in the event will be “more effective in further encouraging and promoting the Georgian tourist industry” after signing a memorandum of cooperation with the ITB Berlin expo earlier today.
Georgia was selected as the exhibition’s host nation because of its natural surroundings, according to David Ruetz, the Head of ITB Berlin, who said that while the country was “well recognised,” its “mysterious world” was yet undiscovered.
In his comments, German Ambassador to Georgia Hubert Knirsch welcomed ITB Berlin’s decision to partner with Georgia and stated he anticipated visits from German visitors to the country.
Following the signing of the memorandum, the Georgian National Tourism Administration and the exhibition organisers had business-to-business discussions with representatives of Georgian and German tourism enterprises, according to the Georgian Economy Ministry.
Along with the organisers, representatives of German tourism firms and media visited Georgia’s eastern Kvemo Kartli area and winemaking Kakheti region to be presented to the local tourism potential, according to the Administration.
ITB Berlin, which has been one of the most prominent events in the tourism and travel industry since 1966, brought together over 10,000 firms from 181 countries yearly in the pre-pandemic period, with over 160,000 visitors, including 113,500 business visitors.
