20 years of Reisepavillon

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Reisepavillon 2010 >>>

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The 20th Reisepavillon was staged as a specialist conference in the German federal capital Berlin from 22-25 April 2010. With the aim of broadening the Reisepavillon vision of being informative and innovative with regard to both content and organisation, to make findings practicable, to offer an attractive space for networking between the various stakeholders in sustainable tourism and last but not least to achieve the maximum public relations impact, the following components were conducted:

Launch at the German Federal Press Office on 22 April 2010 with prominent representatives from tourism and politics;
Specialist event from 23 - 25 April 2010 at Harnack-Haus / Max-Planck-Gesellschaft;
Detailed consideration of tourism issues in the light of current political processes and environmental challenges (climate, world natural heritage sites and education for sustainable development);
Close cooperation with well-established and new partners, particularly with educational facilities
Use of various small- and large-group discussion formats
Opportunities to visit the attached ‘information exchange’
Connections with the 'forum anders reisen' members meeting
Integration of international meetings of NGOs, networks and work groups that are also focus on sustainable tourism.

The positive response to our new enterprise from all sides is very pleasing and encouraging!

We look forward to further stimulating input!

Background

Reisepavillon began in 1991 as a small regional event that initially focused on alternative forms of leisure travel. The concept was well received both by traditional green consumers and first-time visitors, and over the years Reisepavillon grew into an ‘International Alternative Travel Fair’ with up to 300 exhibitors from 50 countries; visitor numbers have stabilised in recent years at around 25,000, attracted above all by opportunities to make direct contact with competent tourism operators and by the wide-ranging programme of events; on average there have been 90-120 presentations, workshops and chaired discussions about sustainable tourism offers and their spin-offs, stimulating lively debate.

Numerous prominent personages from politics and civil society have honoured and visited Reisepavillon over the years, including Klaus Töpfer, Gerhard Schröder, Angela Merkel, Jürgen Trittin, Sigmar Gabriel, Wolfgang Clement, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Christian Wulff, Reinhold Messner and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation Francesco Frangialli.

With the growing importance of Reisepavillon the involvement of experienced travel professionals and eminent institutions became increasingly central to the event, especially with regard to issues of quality assurance, the representative spread of selected approaches and the striving for broad dissemination. A central partner in this has been the German overseas aid organisation GTZ, responsible at Reisepavillon for the FORUM TOURISMUS INTERNATIONAL.

Last not least, media representatives have seized the opportunity to gain a clear overview of sustainable tourism offers and collect material for reports on holiday destinations or operators and the global debate on the sustainability of tourism. One example was the response to the 2009 focus theme ‘Sustainable tourism along the Green Belt’, with innumerable articles on the subject, prompting forum anders reisen to initiate a cycling tour along the former Iron Curtain, while busplaner international magazine awarded a prize at the Munich Reisepavillon fur sustainable coach tours in the adjoining countries.

Reisepavillon’s commitment to sustainability has been recognised by diverse awards:

1999: the Lower Saxony Environment Award
2000: the Global Nature Fund Award for Best Conservation Practice
2000: the GEOSaison ‘Green Palm’
2004: the German Travel Association ‘Internationale Umwelturkunde’
(international environment award)
2005: Recognition of the ‘Sustainable School Journeys’ project, initiated at Reisepavillon, as an official project of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
2007: Special award by the Willy Scharnow Tourism Foundation

Along with its own success story, Reisepavillon has made its contribution to the establishment of sustainable development elsewhere: diverse travel and holiday fairs now present their own ‘green’ areas, along with our former partners ABF, CMT and f.re.e., for example, and the Ferienmesse Wien and ITB Berlin.
In the light of all this, Reisepavillon is now taking leave of its concept of offering a framework for environmentally and socially responsible exhibitors in the form of its own public access tourism fair; it will pursue its vanguard and catalyst role for sustainable tourism in new ways.

The leading German association of small and medium-sized travel and holiday operators with a commitment to sustainable tourism