From 7 to 11 Mar 2012, International Tourism Fair Berlin 2012 (ITB 2012) took place at the International Exhibition Center ITB (Berlin - Federal Republic of Germany).

As one of the largest and the most prestigious international tourism fairs, ITB 2012 is an opportunity for the business partners to meet and exchange experiences and also for visitors to find out and choose their own destinations.

ITB 2012 had the participation of 187 countries and territories with 10,644 stalls displayed at 26 great halls of the International Exhibition Center ITB. Most stalls were well prepared and manifested specific characteristics of various cultures and regions. Some countries also offered to the fair unique and impressive traditional dances, which attracted visitors as well as press agencies. On first day of the fair, Mar 7, the International Exhibition Center ITB opened and welcomed thousands of tourism businessmen to visit and sign contracts with their partners.

Mr. Le Tuan Anh, Director of Tourism Marketing Department (VNAT) said, in this year, the number of stalls of Vietnam in ITB 2012 reached a record with 65 stalls, including 22 ones organized by VNAT and others hired by some enterprises themselves such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietravel, Saigontourist, ... VNAT also facilitated enterprises in organizing their stalls, contributing to promotion of Vietnam tourism to international market.

At the fair, Vietnam's tourism enterprises worked with partners and customers coming from worldwide major markets in areas as hotels, resorts, airlines, … In recent years, Vietnam focused on boosting marketing and brand promotion of tourism and travel to international market, especially German market. So the number of international visitors to Vietnam increased significantly.

ITB Fair 2012 attracted about 170,000 visitors including 110,000 tourism businessmen.

Translated by Thu Giang (TITC)