Aspira University College students visited one of the most famous tourism fair ITB held from 07th to 11th March 2019 in Berlin. The Fair visit was part of study fieldtrip by the students of International Hospitality and Tourism Management and Gastronomy students, who had the opportunity to meet top world experts from the tourism sector. The Fair included representations from more than 180 countries of the world, from 5 continents, and was attended by more than 150 000 visitors. It is estimated that business deals worth around 7 billion Euros are made at the Fair, while it is a well-known fact that the German market is the key market for Croatian tourism, considering the statistical data that 2.7 million German tourists visit Croatia during tourist season.
Students met the Croatian Minister of Tourism, Gari Cappelli and the Director of Croatian Tourist Board, Kristijan Stančić and discussed the plans and preparations for the upcoming tourist season. Based on the reactions by the fair participants, Croatia is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world, and in order to keep this ranking, our representatives should continue to strengthen the recognisability on the tourist market. The Minister Cappelli emphasized that the focus of development is on the selective forms of tourism, such as health-, cycle-, gastro-oeno and ethno-tourism.
Besides participating in the Fair, our students have also enjoyed many tourist attractions of the German capital. Field trips to famous tourism fairs is only one of the benefits of studying at Aspira. Alongside classic lectures held by Croatian and international experts, students can gain valuable knowledge on their study trips and during their internship. Aspira is one of the few higher education institutions that conducts internship from the very first year of study, which ensures better preparation for the labour market. We hope that this field study experience will encourage the students to become the perpetuators for positive changes and improvements in Croatian tourism.