Events

ITB BERLIN CONVENTION 2020 (March 4 to 8, 2020) Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, digitalisation, shifting customer demands and luxury travel are the key topics at the ITB Berlin Convention 2020 to be held from March 4 to 7, 2020. The slogan of the global travel industry’s largest event this year is 'Smart Tourism for Future'.

Experts, researchers and leading representatives of the industry will present their ideas and offer inspiration to visitors for new approaches, projects and products. These will be substantiated by the latest market analyses, examples of best practices and exclusive surveys by the global tourism industry.

Many tourism companies are focusing more and more on intelligent and sustainable systems for managing tourism flows and including them in their strategies and products in view of the rising CO2 levels and over-consumption of resources and their effects on eco-systems and nature. The ITB Berlin Convention has comprehensive information on the current situation, the progress being made and the many deficits and mistakes that need to be addressed.

In addition to ecology and sustainability, digitalisation has become one of the factors that will dominate tomor

row’s tourism industry. Customers want information about their trips everywhere and at all times. Comprehensive digitalisation can make their wishes come true. This topic runs through the entire convention. Every day, event participants will discuss a variety of connected issues and present new ideas.

Development and use of algorithms to create personal travel experiences, opportunities for destinations created by influencers and Instagram users as well as the accompanying challenges, which are often underestimated, will be discussed. The events at the eTravel World will provide a practical context with even more background information on technical innovations and the digital transformation in the industry.

SAUDI HEALTHCARE EXHIBITION (March 22 to 24, 2020)Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Healthcare Exhibition, which provides a platform for medical professionals, government officials, and providers of healthcare products and services to network and engage in business, will be held at Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 22 to 24, 2020.

The event provides attendees with an opportunity to gain benefits from upsurge in the healthcare industry and reap the rewards of unparalleled exposure to key decision makers, government authorities, and high net worth investors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Special focus will be given for 'Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Citizens'. Promoting good health within the Kingdom is important -- ensuring easy access to safe and nutritious food, physical exercise, anti-smoking guidance, getting the necessary amount of sleep and exploring the concept of medical communication. The Saudi Healthcare Exhibition 2020 “Healthy Lifestyle” strives to set new and achievable standards by providing the perfect platform with focus on the essentials for a healthy lifestyle.

The exhibition would help the audience acquire the latest principles of the current ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ related sciences, apply a healthy risk-based model built on scientific evidence to reduce food and smoking hazards and increase physical activities and better sleeping, assess nutritional requirements of hospitalized patients, develop and apply clear health-related regulatory requirements to ensure full compliance of domestic businesses and importers, enhance the safety of imported food and understand the duties of fully qualified clinical dieticians.

It will also provide familiarization with hospital/department policies and procedures related to nutrition, improve health by promoting healthy eating choices and encourage physical activities besides help in quitting smoking. The event will provide information on how to integrate food and nutrition services in the healthcare delivery systems, learn new concepts of planning and implementation of nutritional care, decrease smoking and improve quality sleeping, explore processes of proposed healthy lifestyle plans and patient/family education programs and liaising and coordinating with other professionals.

The Advantage Healthcare-India, the 5th International Summit on Medical Value Travel, which showcased India and its immense pool of medical capabilities as well as created opportunities for healthcare collaborations between the participating countries, was held at India Expo Centre and Mart, Great Noida, in November 2019.

The exhibition showcased India's offerings and expense in healthcare, in terms of Hospitals, Healthcare centres, AYUSH Hospitals, Educational institution (Medical colleges, Nursing colleges, Pharma colleges & AYUSH colleges), medical devices and electronics, pharmaceutical companies, pharma machinery and packaging, and associated infrastructure - medical tourism facilitators, hotels, airlines, tour and travel companies and TPAs.

The objective of this summit was to promote India as a Premier Global Healthcare Destination and to enable streamlined medical services exports from India. This underlying objective is a unique conglomeration of the ‘5 – Ts’ - talent, tradition, technology, tourism and trade.

The exhibition presented and promoted exclusive medical services and expertise, opportunity for the state governments to showcase their healthcare and wellness industry,

WTM LONDON 2019 SEES INCREASE IN INDUSTRY LEADERS WTM London 2019, the leading international event for the travel industry, saw a 77 per cent increase in ministerial attendance as well as a higher quality of WTM Buyers’ Club Members.

According to Reed Exhibitions, the event’s organizer, almost 50,000 visitors from 182 countries attended the three-day event at ExCeL London, while there were around 1.2 million business meetings conducted and over 110 conference sessions held. This all contributed to a total of £3.75 billion worth of travel industry business deals being signed.

“WTM London 2019 was unquestionably a great success,” said WTM London Senior Exhibition Director, Simon Press.

“We are delighted to have been able to facilitate the business and creative connections of 50,000 attendees, exhibitors, buyers and media in order to form the future of the travel industry. By welcoming almost 80 Tourism Ministers and increasing the quality of Buyers’ Club members,

provided excellent brand visibility to the exhibitors, Knowledge Sharing Program where internationally renowned Indian doctors and AYUSH experts delivered lectures on different topics, International Conference on Medical Value Travel, Reverse Buyer Seller Meeting and planned B-2-B sessions with hosted delegates from more than 60 identified countries of Africa, Middle East, CIS and Asia.

Medical Tourism Magazine was the media partner for the event.

we proved that WTM London is not only the event where ideas arrive, but also an event where decisions are made,” he added.

This year, the WTM Buyers’ Club was re-formatted to include a stricter vetting process, which focused on inviting only the top industry buyers with the best reputation and purchasing power. During the event itself, many landmark deals were signed for the travel and tourism industry. These included a deal between easyJet and Atout France that will see a €1 million advertising campaign launched in the UK to promote French destinations.

In addition, several large booking deals occurred at the event, which will see clients such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Seychelles secure increased stand-space heading into the 2020 edition of WTM London.

With high-profile events such as the annual Leaders’ Lunch and the UNWTO & WTM Ministerial Summit, tourism ministers flocked to the event. There was a 77% increase, taking it from 43 ministers in 2018 to 76 this year.