ITB Berlin 2024: Expand your own portfolio of sustainable travel with the Import Promotion Desk

BONN / BERLIN – Sustainable travel from developing and emerging countries is the focus of the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) booth at the ITB Berlin. From 5-7 March, European tour operators will have the opportunity to get to know more than 35 tourism companies from Ecuador, Nepal, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka at the IPD booth (Hall 4.1 booth 210). Tourism companies from Sri Lanka will also be present for the first time. As a destination, Sri Lanka offers a wide range of holiday options – including active, cultural and wellness holidays. At the same time, there are a large number of small and sustainable tour operators and accommodation providers on the island in the Indian Ocean. The IPD arranges direct contact between interested event organisers and local ecological providers. The IPD is a project of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its services are neutral and free of charge.

Focus: Sustainable offers

“As an initiative to promote imports and tourism, we support European tour operators in expanding their portfolio of sustainable travel”, says Marius Thümmrich, expert for sustainable tourism at IPD.  “Our goal is to promote ecological, economic and socially responsible tourism that strengthens local communities and creates financial stability.” All tourism companies that are included in the IPD programme have been visited in advance, carefully checked by IPD experts and prepared for European market requirements.

Authentic experiences

“Once-in-a-lifetime” experiences, authentic experiences and remote locations are becoming increasingly important in tourism. They are seen as the new luxury that many consumers are looking for. The companies in the IPD programme offer a wide range of opportunities to make these special experiences in nature and with people. In Ecuador, travellers can experience the country’s biodiversity through eco-lodges and trekking tours. In Sri Lanka, for example, kayaking trips through a national park offer a special insight into nature and wildlife, and an innovative tour operator in Tunisia organises desert tours with a glamping character.

Women-only tours

With the category “Women-only tours”, the IPD has created a new offer that meets the demand for travel by women for women. At the same time, these special trips promote local women, create employment opportunities and support gender equality and empowerment. In Nepal, a partner company offers trips for women and also enables victims of human trafficking to train as trekking guides and gain career prospects in tourism. In Uzbekistan, a women-run company organises trips for women only to promote encounters between local and travelling women.

Partners in Transformation: Import Promotion Desk with new logo

The Import Promotion Desk (IPD) is part of the newly-founded development policy network “Partners in Transformation – Business & Development Network”. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is bundling its programmes for economic actors in this new network. The common goal of the “Partners in Transformation” is to drive forward socio-ecological and feminist economic transformation in the partner countries. Under the new logo and new brand “Partners in Transformation – Business & Development Network”, IPD will intensify its networking of companies from developing and emerging countries with European partners.

The article ITB Berlin 2024: Expand your own portfolio of sustainable travel with the Import Promotion Desk first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.