News

BERLIN – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TRADE SHOW 2015

The ITB Berlin is the world’s largest travel trade show. The ITB took place from Wednesday, 4th March 2015 and came to an end on Sunday, 8th March 2015.

The International Tourism Bourse 2015 was able to retain its position as the world’s largest travel trade show. More than 10,000 exhibitors among them the Republic of South Sudan, from 186 countries participated at the tourism trade show, more than two-thirds of them were from abroad, and they were represented in 26 display halls which were fully booked. Overall, some 115,000 trade visitors (2014: 114,000) traveled to Berlin. The share of trade visitors from abroad increased to 43 % (2014: 40%). These visitors also remained longer at ITB Berlin because they did good business, with the average duration of a stay rising to 2.4 days (2014: 2.1 days). According to estimates by Messe Berlin the volume of sales at the world’s leading travel trade show increased from around 6.5 billion euros in 2014 to 6.7 billion euros.

NEW YEAR’S RECEPTION HELD BY H. E. MR. JOACHIM GAUCK, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

On invitation by H. E. Mr. Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, H. E. Ambassador Sitona Abdalla Osman attended the New Year’s reception for the Diplomatic Corps on 15th January, 2015, at Bellevue Castle, residence of the German President.

The New Year’s reception for the Diplomatic Corps by H. E. Mr. Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the most important reception in the beginning of the year. All Ambassadors attend the reception.

In his speech H. E. Mr. Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, was mentioning last year’s 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful revolution in 1989. He identifies the German reunification and the end of the Cold War as great success of international diplomacy. He mentions the shocking events in the beginning of 2015; the murder of hundreds of people by Boko Haram, the Terrorist attack on the French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ where 17 people died and the response to the attack when millions of people demonstrated against hatred and intolerance around the world. 2015 will become a tough year for diplomats, the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and the refugees risking their lives to come to Europe are still unsolved. His speech also included the topics: end of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, climate change and the role of Germany in the globalized world