San Sebastián demonstrates its drive for sustainability to a professional audience at the ITB Berlin trade show

Monday, 04 March 2024

San Sebastián demonstrates its drive for sustainability to a professional audience at the ITB Berlin trade show

• The ITB Berlin trade show, the main exponent of the international tourist industry, is on from 5 to 7 March, bringing together the leading professionals operating in the tourism sector.

• Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa (DSST) will be at the event alongside Basquetour, to present San Sebastián and Gipuzkoa as a sustainable top-quality tourist destination to an exclusively professional audience. Businesses associated with DSST will also be there - Local Experts Tours and the Amara Plaza Hotel.

• Visits to San Sebastián from the German market were up by 18.68% in 2023. This is one of the strategic markets on the DSST Master Plan, and Germany now ranks fourth in terms of numbers of visitors.

Donostia San Sebastián Turismoa will be at the ITB Berlin trade show, the main exponent of the international tourist industry, which assembles professional operators from more than 180 countries. The event will be restricted to professionals working in the sector. The Donostia tourism organisation will be at the event alongside Basquetour, as co-exhibitor, from 5 to 7 March, to promote San Sebastián and Gipuzkoa as a sustainable top-quality tourist destination to a professional audience (agencies, tour operators, communication media etc.)

Businesses associated with DSST will also be there as co-exhibitors - Local Experts Tours and the Amara Plaza Hotel, through the Silken group.

Germany, a priority tourism market in San Sebastián

Germany is one of the priority tourism markets for San Sebastián, and the country now ranks fourth in terms of numbers of visitors. The German market, moreover, expanded by 18.68% in 2023 to 82,835 visitors, and has been outstripping pre-pandemic statistics since 2022.

Germany is one of the markets that has shown the most growth in recent years. In 2011 the country was ranked seventh in our frequent-visitor nationality statistics, with only 26,937 overnight stays (5.05%). In view of the growing numbers of German visitors in recent years, it is important for the city to be represented at this trade fair to reach out to its priority target - responsible, sustainability-conscious high added-value tourists - and promote itself as a top-quality sustainable destination.