Sustainability and AI: ITB Berlin Leads the Way in Shaping the Future of the World Travel Industry

Thursday, March 21, 2024

At the ITB Berlin Convention, part of the world’s premier travel trade show ITB Berlin, more than 24,000 attendees and over 400 speakers shared insights and innovations aimed at shaping future travel. The focus was on preparing the industry for tomorrow through extensive collaboration, setting new benchmarks, and leveraging artificial intelligence.

The convention highlighted the tourism sector’s pivotal role in combating the climate crisis, offering a plethora of strategies for reducing emissions, conserving resources, safeguarding biodiversity, and meeting climate objectives. The critical nature of these initiatives was underscored by both industry and external experts in Berlin. Notably, Bruno Oberle, President of the World Resources Forum, urged immediate and bold action, emphasizing the importance of ambitious goals and data-driven progress to spearhead industry advancement.

A wide array of initiatives was debated, from conserving biodiversity in vacation spots and engaging local communities in climate efforts to more radical proposals like restricting flights. Jeremy Sampson, CEO of the Travel Foundation, advocated for the industry to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, outlining a comprehensive strategy that includes regulating air travel and implementing forty steps towards sustainable tourism by 2050.

The customer is at the centre of many of the ideas discussed at the convention: transparency and comparability are seen by the industry as key factors in making it easier for consumers to make climate-friendly decisions. Many speakers were convinced that increasing the visibility of CO2 emissions would influence customers’ decisions in favour of sustainability and increase demand for sustainable products. The willingness to tackle such a change was noticeable in many places at the convention: “We want to make the carbon footprint of travel products visible at the point of sale because we are convinced that this will make sustainable booking decisions much easier and ultimately lead to a more climate-friendly offer,” emphasised Swantje Lehners, CEO, Futouris.

Moreover, the need for increased industry collaboration was evident, with a call for unified and contextually relevant sustainability information. Jessica Matthias, Director of Sustainability at Sabre, and others highlighted the role of modern data management and AI in achieving these goals, emphasizing efficient data use to optimize resources and combat greenwashing.

Artificial intelligence and its potential applications were also a key topic outside of the sustainability debates, dominating many forums and events at the convention. The expectations of the new technology are far-reaching: the industry hopes that the use of AI will provide impetus in terms of optimising operational processes, communication with customers and resource management, for example. Glenn Fogel, CEO of the booking platform Booking, is convinced that AI can also provide customers with crucial support when planning their holidays. However, the industry’s ambitions with regard to AI go much further. The possibility of AI putting together complete service packages for customers no longer seems far away: “We all dream of creating an Amazon-like travel experience. This will soon be possible,” emphasised Gary Wiseman, EVP & Chief Product Officer, Sabre.

However, before this happens, many tourism players must first gain experience with AI and go through a learning curve. “The travel industry needs to familiarise itself with the use of AI,” said travel tech consultant Leila Summa, but also warned against false and exaggerated expectations. The new technology will not replace human labour, but those who use it effectively will have an advantage over others, she explained.

The ongoing scarcity of skilled labor highlights that technology cannot solve every problem in the tourism sector. To appeal to young professionals and skilled workers, many have underscored the necessity for fresh guiding principles and increased diversity across the board. The critical nature of these issues is undeniable, given that the skilled labor shortage is expected to remain a significant concern for the industry in the years ahead.

The readjustment of training content and requirement profiles appears necessary in order to improve the situation and reverse the trend. “For many people, tourism acts as a gateway to the labour market. The most important question is: How can we make the industry more interesting so that people stay in tourism?” emphasised Corné Dijkmans, Director of the Breda University of Applied Sciences. His institute’s most recent study on the subject showed that digital skills and sustainability competences are becoming increasingly important for working in tourism. Employers should also pay more attention to the personal and cultural skills of their applicants in future: “The biggest skills gaps in tourism are in the social and cultural areas. Skills such as empathy and the ability to learn are becoming increasingly important,” believes Dijkmans. For futurologist Rohit Talwar, diversity and collaboration are the key to combating the labour shortage: “It will be crucial to train our own staff accordingly. We need to train customer-centric employees who are able to deal with problems in real time.”

Source:- ITB Berlin

« Back to Page