The best part about ITB Berlin isn’t the panel sessions, the booths, or even the deliciously unhealthy currywurst stands.

Sarah O. Vidal :: The best part about ITB Berlin isn’t the panel sessions, the booths, or even the deliciously unhealthy currywurst stands.

It’s the people.

At these events, I’m reminded that tourism can only become better because of the hundreds of people around the world quietly building:

→ Tours that support communities
→ Tech platforms that rethink impact
→ Initiatives that try to move the industry forward, even when it’s not easy

Last week I had the chance to sit around tables, family-dinner style, with several of those people. Founders, writers, strategists, builders.

We talked honestly about the work.
The challenges. The small wins that keep you going.

It was the kind of conversation that reminds you that behind every “initiative” or “project” is a human trying to figure things out as they go.

And of course, reconnecting with my Latitude co-founder Jamie Burr is always the icing on the cake.

I’m still collecting notes from the week and will share more soon.

Especially some brand strategy insights that kept coming up in conversations, including how travel search is changing and what that means for brands trying to stand out.

But for now, I want to pause because my heart is full.

I’m grateful to have connected and reconnected with the people doing the hard work.

Danielle Finch, Shivya Nath, Lars von der Wettern, Audrey Scott, Theodora Chatzipavlidis, Jana Marie Bald, Katia Braga, Samantha Smits, Richard Lindberg, Charlotte Jacaranda Louwman-Vogels, Håvard Utheim, Saskia Ruttkowski, and many more I wish I had space to name.

Sometimes the real signal about where tourism is headed isn’t on the stage.
It’s around the dinner table.

Sarah O. Vidal :I help responsible tourism brands attract + inspire ideal customers

M.Z.I. Dalton Zahir | from TT Desk