ITB Berlin - Should I Go
 

Morning all,

Firstly feel free to move. I know it's not BA, but the BA Forum is the one I post in and I'm a BA nut who would also be flying on BA. Also I have huge respect for many of your views.

I've got the chance to go to the ITB Berlin this weekend as general public. I'm mad about points, travel and the industry and am trying to start my travel blog.

In short, do you think visiting for the day would be enjoyable and worth it?

Again, sorry if this isn't for this forum, but I know how active all of you are.....

[ITB the world's largest tourism trade fair (http://www.itb-berlin.de/en/)]

I'm not sure how anyone can possibly advise you on that? If you have the time and cash to support your hobby then go for it.

Simply because of the sheer scale of the thing, it is probably worth doing for the spectacle. You won't meet anyone important though - the senior people only turn up today and possibly tomorrow. It will just be young marketing kids on the stands at the weekend!

There is a whole blogging track as well, with presentations and workshops. Not sure if you can turn up at those if you're not registered as a blogger.

Or wait for World Travel Market in London in November, which does the same thing including a blogger track.

As i'm off for my 12th consecutive ITB tomorrow morning i'd say -

The public days I imagine (I say that as i'm trade so never attend public days) are probably a waste of time. All of my meetings are with people who will leave on Friday evening (I'm there Thu / Fri). I expect that you would be able to get a ticket for the trade days based on your travel blog.

So I would suggest seeing if you can make it in the next couple of days? A lot of people will be fully booked up with meetings (i've 30 on Thu PM / Fri) but it's a bit more relaxed - and you'll find Friday AM a good time to meet people as there are less buyers, and therefore people have less meetings and more freedom to chat. I prefer Fri to Wed.

If you have to go on Saturday then just go and admire it - the sheer scale of it is incredible. Just do not expect to meet anyone that important! But - plan well, the venue is HUGE. My first ITB I made the mistake of booking meetings in different halls - they were 20 minutes walk away from each other. Now I focus on different geographic areas AM then PM.

Otherwise as Raffles says you have WTM, but they are eliminating their public days (so get a trade pass). WTM in Excel in November is still really big & tiring, but it's probably 1/5th of the importance & size of ITB.

Take comfortable shoes :p

I've never been to ITB so I can't give you any immediate advice, but you should be warned that the ground staff at TXL and SXF are likely to begin an indefinite strike on Friday. Further details are expected to emerge tonight. Their union has announced that it will give 12 hours' notice.

Of course, the airlines won't cancel any flights before the union officially announces their strike, which is rather unfortunate for people who are hoping to travel through TXL on Friday morning (such as me) and wouldn't mind being able to arrange alternatives if necessary.

Hi Raffles,

Thanks for your reply! Actually, you are one of the biggest inspirations for me. With your help I've done so many things I would never be able to do, and especially be able to take my (soon to be) wife with me! So I'm so grateful for your reply!!!

I am 100% not a registered blogger, nor do I have one really setup yet, apart from a name and a business card I've made. I'd love to know your thoughts?


So I follow a few blogs, I travel my points most of the time, I give advice to friends/family, book travel for everyone and of course travel as much as possible around my job. It's a true passion and I've always wanted to make a start to it / the blog concept. I thought attending this event could possible give me an 'in' as such. Find hotels / airlines that would possibly exchange free or discounted rooms etc. for a review in return. I'm great at selling myself and have been told many times I have the gift of the gab, so thought it might be useful! Also, I'd like to see the new Qatar Suite!!!

I will certainly take a look at the WTM!

Thanks Raffles :)

If I could go tomorrow I would, but I have a full time job and a fiancee! I've been allowed to go for the day on Saturday. The cost, well £35 RFS, free transfer to/from the airport and my £8 student ticket (yes I still have a student card haha).

Hey, regardless I am sure it will be a fun day and thanks for the heads up! Again, would be great to meet with some 'important' folk, but hey ho, no worries if not.

Hope you enjoy it! Would be greatful for any post conference tips!

Oh damn! I saw nothing of this on the BA Site? Where would that leave me then? Able to not travel / get a refund? As I booked pre warning (I beleive), would I be entitled to EU261/2004? Would actually make a profitable day haha :p

I went the past few years. It's nice to visit, but one does need 2 full days to get to see it all.
In terms of contacts, there's some good chances for networking, but that would be on Wed-Fri. The weekend which is for consumers isn't the best time to build any contact relations.
But for getting info on tour agencies, places to visit, and just looking around, yeah I would recommend it.

ITB is a very cool place to be, sign up as press and go there the first or second day. You will have a blast. All airlines have their product on display and usually have a product manager or two on site to explain how they designed the product.

No, you won't get any EU261 compensation for a strike (and one that's definitely outside the BA's control), but you will get a free rebooking or a full refund – they can't take your money or Avios and not let you travel.

Of course, if you only want to see ITB (not that Berlin isn't a worthwhile destination in its own right), it'll have to be this weekend, so you'd need a plan B. The closest nonstop BA destinations are Hamburg (HAM) and Hanover (HAJ), both about 2:15 hours and €60–80 from Berlin by train.

Oh bugger - thanks for the heads up. I'm flying in on BA and out on Norwegian who I fancied trying for the first time. I'm not sure they will be as IRROPS friendly as BA.... I'll make sure i've some alternative options / accommodation lined up.

Ryanfozzie - don't rely on the free shuttle buses at TXL airport - they can be infrequent and often fill up meaning you've got to wait. I would recommend getting a day travelcard sold at the information booth - and then use the bus that takes you to the underground station (about 5 mins away). Public transport in Berlin is an absolute doddle, and you've good access to the Exhibition Halls (I use Messe Sud). BA 990 (the 07:10 LHR flight) or BA 4191 (LCY at 08:20) do not run on Saturdays though - so you're left with BA 992 - and probably wouldn't make it to ITB before 13:30. If you're serious about doing a day trip on Saturday i'd look at the early Easyjet flight...

Thanks for the info. I will have approx 5/6 hours there. Whilst not enough, I am sure it will be a nice day out. If I focus on seeing what I want to see (Airlines/Hotels), I am sure it will be worth it (for me), or to give me the push I guess.

Wish I had the time to go today/yesterday! I'm just exciting to see some new products!

Worth a shot haha! No problem. If I get to LHR and it's mayhem, I will just call it quits and at least I tried. There are always other options :)