ITB Berlin 2025: Global travel trends, sustainable tourism, and emerging destinations

euronews (in English)

In this episode of Focus, we attended ITB Berlin 2025 and met tourism leaders who highlighted sustainability, technology, and new travel experiences shaping the future of global tourism.

Transcript

00:00There are more than 6,000 exhibitors from 170 countries and 100,000 visitors.

00:08It is the largest tourism show in the world, which has just taken place in Berlin.

00:16Travel abroad has increased by 13% in 2024, thus rediscovering its pre-Covid level.

00:21This 2025 edition of ITV Berlin starts with the best augurs,

00:26with real trends, new technologies, sustainable travel, responsible tourism,

00:32but also, of course, simply the desire to travel, the desire to escape,

00:36and this despite the international context.

00:40New experiences to attract new visitors.

00:43This is what, for example, Great Britain offers,

00:46which has just produced a film to reveal the filming locations

00:49of some of the greatest hits in the history of cinema.

00:56Where Captain America was filmed.

00:58If you go to the beaches of North Wales, you'll see where House of the Dragons was filmed.

01:05Those amazing landscapes.

01:07And of course, up to Scotland and following the footsteps of James Bond.

01:12So take a driving tour up into the highlands of Scotland.

01:18For other countries, it is above all a more responsible and inclusive tourism

01:22that must attract increasingly sensitive tourists to these themes.

01:27So what we do here is we empower and train our indigenous communities

01:33to work towards the transition into making their destinations,

01:40their homes, immersive and cultural experiences.

01:43We have 7,641 islands.

01:46There are so many stories and so many experiences in the Philippines

01:51that we would like to share to the world, one island at a time.

02:00We have more than 6,000 villages in Indonesia that are ready to welcome tourists.

02:07This is part of the inclusiveness.

02:09We want to make sure that tourism is not only for big corporations,

02:13but also the people that live their life in the village.

02:17So the economic benefit is for them.

02:20They preserve the environment at the same time and culture are preserving as well.

02:34In Japan, we want to encourage tourists to return to areas that have been affected by natural disasters,

02:40such as the Okuriku region, hit by a strong earthquake in January 2024.

02:46This region offers a lot of local authentic experiences,

02:51a lot of nature, a lot of old generation crafts and arts.

02:56Another point to note is that in Japan, there are a lot of local festivals.

03:01And festivals are a local asset.

03:06It's a very well way for travelers to also join and take part,

03:12which will encourage the local community in terms of giving them hope or purpose.

03:20Other destinations already very common, such as Thailand or the Dominican Republic,

03:24also have the desire to attract new travelers.

03:28In the Dominican Republic, we are more than sun and beach and pina colada.

03:33We offer in the different destinations a proposal of value and experience

03:39with beautiful mountains, rivers, and of course the beaches.

03:44And above all, the cultural heritage that the Dominican Republic has.

03:51We have beautiful beaches, good food, but the most important thing is we have good people.

03:58We have people that have the service mind.

04:02We try to make it more convenient for people to come to Thailand for the first time

04:08to have the first impression that we are safe, we are colorful.

04:22And of course, there are all the new destinations,

04:25these countries that intend to highlight their potential.

04:28This is the case, for example, of the South of Tannadoman, Kazakhstan, or even Azerbaijan,

04:33which bets on its many sites classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites

04:36and which also offers culinary adventures in the north of the country, the Slow Food Travel.

04:42And it also gives the opportunity for travelers to become kind of co-producers

04:47and it brings benefit again to local people, to local producers,

04:52and brings also this, at the same time, gastronomic variety on the plate of travelers.

04:59There is a lot of other projects I could talk about,

05:02but Azerbaijan is really easy to reach, easy to travel,

05:06and all these different elements are within just like 2-3 hours' reach from the capital city of Baku.

05:17Last year, Kazakhstan welcomed more than 10 million foreign visitors.

05:20But, you know, numbers is not just a goal.

05:24Our primary goal is to enhance the quality of experience.

05:29And thus, we started maintaining the sustainable tourism development in our national parks, for instance.

05:37Today, visitors can find there eco-friendly infrastructure,

05:42and this kind of tourism now becoming a strong tool for empowering local communities.

05:51Oman has a lot of important and beautiful sites for adventure tourism,

05:58whether they are sea sites, diving, or kitesurfing,

06:07and other sea resorts related to adventure.

06:15There are also many other adventure sites that visitors can enjoy in Oman,

06:24such as hiking, trekking, and hiking.

06:30Saudi Arabia, which opened to tourism in 2019,

06:33has a target of 150 million visitors per year by 2030,

06:38based on its cultural heritage, the vast Red Sea project,

06:42and the multiplication of international sporting events.

07:09There is also a huge potential for investors.

07:12Cecilia Pueyo has created a business that supports those who want to develop their activities in the country.

07:39Tourism is an economic engine, of course,

07:42but in the current context, many are those who have insisted on peace and security,

07:48vital conditions to attract these investments.

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