This is the theme that this year’s ITB Berlin was opened under on Tuesday at the International Convention Center. This year’s partner is the metropolis region of Rhine Ruhr.
The word of the evening was uttered early
“I am certain that the region can take on the leading forces of international tourism!” These were the words that Mayor Klaus Wowereit welcomed the representatives from the Ruhr region with. That was the extent of the hymns of praise, however. The social democrat used the remainder of his designated speech time for promoting Berlin. He also picked up the argument on the various new openings of hotels in Berlin that had been come up in the previous week. Contrary to Burkhard Kieker, manager of BTM, he commends the courage of the investors. “I like that. Competition brings life into the business”, he said with a proud glance to the recent figures of Berlin tourism.
This year’s ITB is fully booked again, but it, too, rests below the “cover” of the economic crisis. Taleb Rafai was referring to this very issue when citing Benjamin Franklin. “We must hang together or we will hang separately”, the UNWTO chairman spoke fiercely.
The president of the German Bundestag, Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert, as well, mentioned the partner region in only a few sentences, but managed to somewhat lighten up the atmosphere. The mayor had mentioned in his preceding speech that he could not have imagined a few years ago to open the ITB with an address of welcome to the Rhine Ruhr region. The president of the Bundestag had responded dryly that the fans of Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund (both from the Ruhr region) could not have imagined a few years ago that Hertha BSC (a Berlin club) would once top the charts of the German Football League.
Germany’s new Minister for Economy knew to entice the masses with wit and energy. “It is difficult harvesting a spear of grass from a mowed lawn, but there is some space left, yet”, said Dr. Karl-Theodor zu Gutenberg. He spread optimism and appeared very calm, yet always attentive during his speech. Surprisingly, he, being the Minister for Economy, paid the most attention to this year’s partner.
Grey Metropolis Region
The selection of the metropolis region had previously been criticized on many occasions due to its lack of international profile. The expectations of the attending individuals of stature to obtain more detailed insights were mostly disappointed, with the information being conveyed in a dry, stiff discussion session made up of Klaus Laepple (president of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Economy), Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers (Premier of federal state North Rhine Westphalia) and Dr. h.c. Fritz Pleitgen (chairman of the board of RUHR 2010). Similarly, the stage performance, which described the everyday life in the coal metropolis, made for questioning, rather than excited looks among the guests at ICC. Will international guests be attracted by the “Steigerlied” (a folk song sung by coal miners)? The show only started to develop towards the end of the event when all words had been spoken and all felicitations been given. With wild acrobatics, the organizers attempted to bring a bit of a Caribbean flair into the halls. The mixture of the football shirts of the rivaling clubs of Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 was about as amusing as it got, however. It was a display of traditional culture, with a general lack of willingness to take risks or to try things new. It will be up to the following days of the trade fair to make up for it.
