As warfare disrupts world air connectivity and casts uncertainty over ITB Berlin 2026, the World Tourism Network is relaunching its Rebuilding Travel Again dialogue in Berlin. The Hon. Edmund Bartlett will attend. Tourism leaders will collect to deal with resilience, shield small companies, and guarantee the trade doesn’t repeat the expensive errors made at the begin of COVID-19.
Every 12 months, ITB Berlin turns Berlin into the world capital of journey and tourism. Hosted at Messe Berlin, it’s the largest gathering of journey professionals worldwide — a spot the place opponents grow to be companions and even political adversaries meet as trade colleagues.
Tourism has lengthy been thought of a enterprise of peace. It thrives on cooperation, dialogue, and connectivity. But this 12 months, ITB faces a dramatic backdrop: warfare in the Middle East — one of the pillars of world tourism development and aviation connectivity.
A Global Aviation Shockwave
The Middle East is greater than a vacation spot area; it’s the crossroads of world aviation.
Air hubs akin to Doha and Dubai — powered by airways like Qatar Airways and Emirates — join Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. These carriers, alongside others in the Gulf, have enabled document passenger flows and made the area indispensable to world tourism logistics.
Now, with airspace closures and flight cancellations rippling throughout networks, the very infrastructure that connects ITB’s world contributors is beneath pressure.
Nepal Delegation Lands — Then Airspace Closes
Deepak Joshi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, contacted eTurboNews minutes in the past with pressing information: the Qatar Airways flight from Kathmandu carrying his staff and Nepal exhibitors landed safely in Doha, simply earlier than the airport and surrounding airspace shut down.
They are secure. But they’re stranded.
No one is aware of what is going to occur subsequent — or what this implies for ITB.
For many in tourism, the second brings déjà vu. In 2020, ITB Berlin was abruptly canceled as COVID-19 unfold globally, marking the symbolic starting of the worst disaster in trendy tourism historical past.
Delegations Grounded Across Continents
The disruption is widespread.
Dov Kalmann, an eTN Hero based mostly in Tel Aviv, has no technique to go away for his long-planned ITB go to. Delegations throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia face comparable uncertainty.
Airlines impacted embody:
- Middle Eastern carriers
- Turkish Airlines
- European airways
- Asian carriers with codeshare agreements linked to Gulf hubs
If main Middle Eastern transit hubs stay closed, ITB Berlin might shrink dramatically — turning into largely a European and Americas-based occasion, attended by embassy officers and exhibitors who can attain Germany with out crossing affected airspace.
So far, there was no official response from ITB organizers.
Rebuilding Travel — and Avoiding Past Mistakes
The World Tourism Network (WTN), in cooperation with eTurboNews, is urgent forward with its annual networking dinner on Monday, March 2 — however with a renewed focus.
The theme: Rebuilding Travel — Again.
The authentic “rebuilding.travel” dialogue was launched in Berlin in 2020, following the cancellation of ITB because of COVID. That initiative helped tourism stakeholders navigate the pandemic’s devastating impression and led to the founding of WTN in 2021.
Now, as geopolitical instability threatens the restoration, WTN is urging the trade to not repeat the errors of 2020.
WTN Hero Dr. Jens Thraenhart warned:
“If in fact, it really escalates, which is indeed possible, then it will hit travel and tourism hard.”
He mirrored on the early days of COVID:
“Tourism wasn’t prepared for COVID. When the issue was raised a high level tourism Board meeting in January 2020 during FITUR, the sensitivity was that this is a health issue and needs to be handled and led by WHO. While true, this shouldn’t mean for tourism to go back and go into a wait-and-see mentality.”
The world shutdown that adopted proved how expensive that complacency was.
Dr. Thraenhart emphasised that tourism should not make the similar mistake once more.
“Tourism should not make the same mistake now. It’s about concrete solutions to save the many small businesses — including focusing on domestic tourism and resilience strategies.”
Leadership in Uncertain Times
WTN’s Berlin dinner will convene tourism leaders prepared to interact in open dialogue regardless of uncertainty. Among these taking part:
- Safety and safety professional Dr. Peter Tarlow (becoming a member of nearly)
- Former UNWTO Deputy Secretary-General and WTTC CEO Prof. Geoffrey Lipman
- Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism
- Media consultants and tourism officers from Europe and North America
WTN President Juergen Steinmetz summarized the urgency:
“It’s time to show networking and leadership. Crisis demands action, not silence.”
Tourism as a Business of Peace
Travel and tourism contribute almost 10% of world GDP and help a whole lot of tens of millions of jobs. But past economics, tourism connects individuals. It fosters understanding the place politics generally fail.
ITB Berlin has lengthy symbolized that very best — Israelis assembly Arabs, Asians assembly Europeans, Africans assembly Americans — all as colleagues in one trade.
Today, that spirit faces one other check.
Will ITB Berlin grow to be smaller? Possibly.
Will world connectivity undergo? Already.
Will tourism stay silent? That is the actual query.
If the trade discovered something from 2020, it’s that ready for others to behave isn’t a method.
As flights are grounded and uncertainty grows, the message from Berlin could must be clear:
