ITB Berlin 2023 – A trade fair full of highlights

The ITB Berlin travel trade fair was back in full swing last week after a four-year hiatus, and it was nothing short of exhilarating. The event showcased how innovation in the tourism industry continues to accelerate, and it was evident from the excitement and energy in the air that the industry is finally going digital.

As a leading provider of travel technology solutions, we were proud to showcase our TripBuilder tool, dynamic packaging solutions, and further developments for group tour handling to attendees from across the globe.

The atmosphere was simply amazing – the halls were packed with travel professionals from all corners of the world, and the optimism was contagious. We were pleased to meet with customers and partners in person and to discuss our vision for the future of travel.

Our takeaways from ITB 2023

Our biggest takeaway from the event was that the market’s interest in modern technology has never been stronger. The long-fought battle of “buy vs. build” for travel IT systems finally seems to be settling for “buy,” and this is great news for the industry as a whole. But particularly for technology providers such as Nezasa, which can now focus on our customer’s future needs. 

However, the lack of standardisation in the industry is slowing down innovation. Limited data standards for things like hotel amenities, room types, activities, and tours mean that each content vendor isn’t yet plug-and-play, which is hampering time to value for travel agencies and tour operators.

E-commerce is also relatively new to travel, and things like returning customer rates and conversion rates are still new to travel agencies and tour operators. Better technology and data management will make these more commonplace in the future and drive better business performance.

The winners will be those who act more like product companies than travel companies. A perfect example this week was our customer TUI launching their new product: Tui Tours – a big step forward for their business and a sign that innovation is required to keep up with evolving consumer demands.

Nezasa’s Booth 

Our booth attracted a lot of attention from industry professionals, and we were able to network with potential partners and customers. Our team provided live demonstrations of our tools, showing how easy it is to create customisable packages that meet the unique needs of travellers.

In addition to showcasing our TripBuilder platform, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to present our latest innovation, TripOptimizer, in the ITB Innovation Radar.

This was our first time bringing our flight route optimiser to such a huge event, and we were both excited and curious to see how some of the major players in the industry would react to such a particular new product. 

We received overwhelmingly positive feedback and high demand for our solutions, as well as some energetic and inspiring conversations over the course of the event.

Handling in-destination friction with the help of technology 

Last day at ITB Berlin also meant we got to express Nezasa’s vision for one of the industry’s most pressing topics.

Manuel Hilty, Nezasa’s CEO, was part of an insightful panel around one of the challenges the travel industry is yet to solve – handling in-destination friction. 

This is one of the travel challenges we are most keen on solving with our tech solutions. And even though we understand that travel friction is a lot of times out of travel providers’ control, we are focused on creating the right tools to make sure we can minimise the effect of disruption.

See you at ITB Berlin 2024

As the fair came to a close, we couldn’t help but feel a sense of reluctance to leave as if we were rolling up the red carpet on what had been an incredibly successful event.

In conclusion, ITB Berlin 2023 was a huge success for Nezasa. We were impressed by the excitement and enthusiasm in the industry, and we look forward to being a part of the future of travel. We are already eagerly anticipating ITB Berlin 2024 and the opportunity to connect with industry professionals from around the world once again.