The eTravel Lounge before the crowds arrived!
It truly was another milestone in the development of professional travel blogging: a group of travel bloggers representing iambassador, Traveldudes and Travel Massive banded together to host the first ever travel blogger stand at a major international tourism fair. ITB Berlin is widely regarded as the world’s largest tourism fair so it wasn’t a bad place to start!
The eTravel Lounge
Called the eTravel Lounge, the stand quickly became a hot spot at ITB, drawing in crowds throughout the day. The Lounge was the perfect spot for travel bloggers to organise meetings with industry representatives such as tourism boards, airlines, PR companies and others. We provided refreshments whilst Puglia Tourism supported the Lounge by providing delicious cheeses, olives, biscuits, salami and wines each day. Visit Tyrol supported the Lounge by providing a large screen for announcements. Watch interviews with Keith Jenkins and Melvin Boecher at the Lounge.
Bloggers enjoying goodies from Puglia!
‘Meet the Experts’ sessions were also held for an hour each day during which anyone interested could meet with industry experts from the likes of Trip Advisor, G Adventures, Tnooz and Skyscanner. The eTravel Lounge was buzzing all day and it was an incredible experience to witness the networking and exchange of ideas. It was a huge success and we’re very excited about this achievement.
The eTravel Lounge quickly became a hotspot at ITB 2015!
In addition to the eTravel Lounge, iambassador was also well-represented in the eTravel World programme with several presentations and panel discussions on blogging, collaboration and social media campaigns. All sessions were full right up to the last standing spot.
Melvin Boecher and Kash Bhattacharya explaining the iambassador 4-step buzz-creation model in front of a packed crowd.
ITB Travel Tweet-up
The Mayor of Malaga chatting with the bloggers.
Each year at ITB, iambassador and Traveldudes collaborate to host the ITB Travel Tweet-up. This year, the Tweet-up was held at the edgy infarm urban farming venue. Supported by the German National Tourist Board, Málaga Tourism and Visit South Tyrol, the Tweet-up was attended by about 200 bloggers and industry people for an evening of casual networking and fun. We were very surprised (and honoured) to have Mr. Francisco de la Torre Prados, the Mayor of Málaga, show up at the Tweet-up to chat with the bloggers in person. He spoke passionately about his city and extended a warm invitation to everyone to visit Málaga. A lucky blogger, randomly picked by the Mayor, went home with a prize of a trip to Málaga! An article about the Tweet-up later appeared in a Málaga newspaper.
A big thank you goes to our supporters and everyone who helped to make this possible!
