Although it is not a country, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a federal state in northern Germany, is the official partner country of ITB Berlin 2018, picked for the destination’s strong sustainable tourism concept, according to the show organiser.
Those visiting Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will be able to offset their carbon footprint by purchasing so-called forest shares, 85,000 of which have already been sold. Five square metres of mixed woodland can be planted for 10 euros (US$12).
As a result of the project, extensive reforesting is now taking place, according to a statement from the show organisers.
ITB Berlin is also expected to have its opening ceremony leave zero carbon footprint next year.
A public tree-planting ceremony was held last weekend in Göhren-Lebbin in the Mecklenburg Lake District, at which ITB Berlin will become a forest shareholder.
Chairman of the Tourism Association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Wolfgang Waldmüller said: “We are looking forward to organising Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s appearance at ITB Berlin 2018. This is a big challenge, which we gladly accept, and it gives us the opportunity to score points on the international market.”
At ITB Berlin 2017 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern occupied a stand covering 400m2. According to the Statistics Office, last year the state registered 30.3 million overnights. Tourism is a mainstay of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s economy and currently provides jobs for a total of 130,000 people.
Furthermore, annual gross turnover in this sector is around 4.1 billion euros, and consumption by visitors totals 7.75 billion euros.