The South African stand at ITB Berlin won gold when it was awarded ‘Best Exhibitor in the Africa category’ at an awards ceremony after the trade show last week.

Contributing factors that saw the South African stand coming out tops and getting the nod from the ITB Berlin stand judges include: the variety of products and services represented on the stand, its artistic representation as well as a highly committed staff that worked with the ITB Berlin team in the build-up to the trade show. 

“We are extremely pleased by this recognition. We come to ITB to do business with various partners in order to grow tourist arrivals to our country. How we show up is very important. Through our stand design, we communicated our bold position to everyone at ITB Berlin 2023, and that, as a country, we are vibrant, alive and united, and have a variety of tourism offerings and experiences. Our presence at ITB is part of the work we are doing in contributing to the recovery of our tourism sector. South Africa is geared up to cater for tourists’ needs. Our stand represented this and more. We thank ITB for their recognition, as this means a lot to our country and all the South Africans we represent in participating on this global platform,” said Zinhle Nzama, Acting Chief Convention Bureau Officer at South African Tourism.

Since 2000, the award has been presented by the CBS International Business School to exhibitors at ITB Berlin.

Ahead of the tradeshow, all individual and combined stands were divided into 11 categories. Stands were classified according to geographical location and/or market segment, enabling easier comparisons and making the Best Exhibitor Award an even more qualified indicator of how attractive the stands are at ITB Berlin. All stands were assessed over two rounds.

The 11 categories are: Germany, Europe, Asia/Australia/Oceania, America/The Caribbean, Near/Middle East, Africa, Hotel Business, Carriers, Travel Organisations, Travel Support and Media, as well as Travel Technology.

The top ten for ‘Best Exhibitor in the Africa category’ from number one to ten are as follows: South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Botswana, Tunisia, Mauritius, Gambia, Ethiopia, Réunion and Sierra Leone.