ITB Asia and partners will hold a responsible tourism networking event on 22 October. The objective is to share experiences and strengthen contacts and business opportunities between environmentally and socially responsible travel operators.

The event is a continuation of the responsible tourism networking event supported by Messe Berlin during ITB Berlin in March and at the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in New Delhi in April. The responsible travel event at ITB Asia is being co-organised by The Blue Yonder, Traveltocare.com and Wild Asia.

The 6-8pm networking session will be preceded at 5.15pm by a PATA press briefing on corporate social responsibility. PATA and its partners, GTZ and SNV, will present a case study on 15 successful examples of CSR in the Asian travel Industry.

“Our objective is to show tourism operators how easy it is to implement practical measures,” said Dr Martin Buck, Vice President of Messe Berlin, the organizer of ITB Asia. “Tourism operators can now easily find out more about the many initiatives that are ready to use. These best practice measures help the environment, boost a company’s credibility and save money in the long run,” he said.

ITB Asia has also worked with responsible operators to create the Responsible Tourism Centre at ITB Asia. The centre is an 18 square metre booth on the ITB Asia show floor made from recycled and reusable material walls, carpets and signage boards. The centre - booth number S01 - will be manned by experienced representatives from groups and associations dealing with responsible tourism in Asia. The centre will act as resource and contact point for all ITB Asia delegates interested in becoming more responsible in their tourism practices.

ITB Asia attendees who wish to join the responsible tourism briefing and networking event on 22 October at Suntec room 208 should contact the organisers at info@rtnetworking.org.