Sabah is one of the thirteen States in Malaysia situated on the island of Borneo. This second largest state shares the island with Sarawak, another Malysian state, Brunei and Indonesian’s Kalimantan. It is a land abundant with natural beauty, exotic flora and fauna, fascinating underwater marine life, and warm hospitable people from a multi faceted society of various ethnic communities.

Revered, respected and even feared, Mount Kinabalu is a sacred emblem to the local people of Sabah. Legend has it that the name Kina-balu means “Chinese Widow”. Kina is a variation of China and Balu ist the Malay word for widow. This is an allusion to the legendary belief that many women were widowed when their husbands attempted to obtain a pearl on top of the mountain.

Wednesday, March 11

Tourism Emergency Response Network (TERN) consultation/ ITB on Crisis Communications in the Tourism Sector (by invitation only)
10.00-11.30h
Venue: ICC, Room 19
E-Mail: rcm@unwto.org
URL: www.sos.travel/

Presentation on the UNWTO Biodiversity and Tourism Projects (registration required)
14.00-15.30h
Venue: UNWTO STAND 20/128

by Volker Hasse

From March 11 to 15, the leading global travel trade fair will be opening up its 26 halls on the ICC. A total of 11,147 exhibitors from 180 countries will be presenting themselves to the estimated 180,000 visitors and 8,000 journalists on an area of 160,000 square meters.

On the weekend of March 14 & 15, the ITB will open up for private visitors, featuring a wide range of offers.

The fifteenth edition of MITM Americas, Meetings and Incentive Travel Market, will be held in Havana, Cuba, November 18 and 19 of this year.

MITM’s hosted buyers are from Europe and, even though MITM will take place in Cuba, incentives and conventions buyers from the United States will also attend, as they did in the MITM edition of 2004 in Varadero, where 36% of the buyers were from the US.