Presenting Berlin as the partner of the German Pavilion for Children’s and Youth Travel

BERLIN – Some significant anniversaries are being celebrated in the youth travel sector at ITB Berlin: it is 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, the Youth Travel Center is ten years old, and the YIG Germany pavilion has been in existence for five years. YIG stands for Youth Incoming Germany, and its patron this year is the Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit who will be opening the special exhibition area in Hall 4.1 on March 11. Within the Youth Travel Center the YIG German pavilion will feature Berlin as its official partner. With a wide range of travel attractions for children and young people, the German capital is seeking to boost visitor numbers even further with a campaign targeted at German and international specialists.

Highlights of the anniversary program of the Teachers’ Symposium
In the field of youth travel, there is a particular emphasis on school trips. On March 12 and 13, teachers, educators, and others with responsibility for school trips can attend a two-day teachers’ symposium dealing with many aspects of school and class trips, as well as offering details about careers in tourism and in the media. Henry Tesch, Minister of Education, Science, and Culture of the Land Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, who is serving as president of the Permanent Conference of Ministers of Culture in Germany, will be opening the event in 2009. During the subsequent panel discussions from 2:00 to 3:15 pm, he will be answering questions posed by suppliers to the German children’s and youth travel scene and by participating teachers. This will be followed by a variety of workshops and papers.

During the second day of the symposium, there will be excursions on the theme of “20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall” to places of particular historical relevance in Berlin and to the Vocational Training Centre of the children’s villages SOS-Kinderdorf e.V. Details will also be provided about the possibilities for trainees to take part in exchange programs (EUROPASS) in the European Union. During the Friday afternoon at the YIG Germany pavilion in Hall 4.1, exhibitors will be organizing a number of different activities for teachers on the subjects of mobility and travel.

ITB weekend for schoolchildren and students with cookery presentations
Cooks and restaurant specialists are popular all over the world. They provide sustenance and ensure the good mood of guests at holiday clubs, in mountain huts, and in desert oases. During the days when ITB Berlin is open to the public, younger visitors will be preparing meals, together with trainers and trainees, from the healthy catering department of the SOS Children’s Villages organization. Cookery demonstrations and cocktail mixing will provide plenty of opportunities for enjoyment. A visit to the accompanying five-day, German-African exhibition by the SOS Children’s Villages under the heading of “Taking control of our own lives!” is intended to promote careers in the catering and hotel industry. The exhibition has been organized jointly by the training centers of the SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya and Germany.

Exhibitors at the Youth Travel Center
There will be displays by a total of 50 exhibitors at the Youth Travel Center. They will include such initiators of the YIG as A&O Hotels & Hostels Holding AG and welcome berlin tours, and the two partner associations of the YIG Germany pavilion, Bundesforum Kinder-und Jugendreisen e.V. and the World Youth, Student, and Educational Travel Confederation (WYSE Travel Confederation).

Other contributors will include rural hostels and holiday camps from all over Germany, from the Thuringian Forest to the North Sea – holiday travel specialists such as Akzente-Reisen, EVR-Reisen, DB school trips, and the nationwide German holiday exchange service. Among the exhibitors will be regional federations incorporating a number of different suppliers and sponsors, such as the working group for young people from Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and the Schleswig-Holstein regional youth group. The member organizations of the German youth sports federation, the regional tourism marketing organisations, and German National Tourist Board (DZT) will also be staging their own displays at the YIG.

Details can be obtained by telephoning the YIG Project Office of Messe Berlin, iNTEGRON-Institut, Dr. Heike Bähre, tel: +49(0)30-56 044 889, fax +49(0)30-56 04 48 40, e-mail: [email protected] .