INTEREST from the travel industry in the Ruhr region of Germany increased noticeably, with significantly more people at their stand than at individual displays of previous years, according to Dr HC Fritz Pleitgen, general manager of Ruhr 2010.
“We are very grateful that ITB Berlin had the courage to accept us as their partner region – and are pleased we could fulfill the high expectations. We ourselves were curious as to whether we could keep up with the exotic countries at the fair, but things went extremely well.”
“Coming to Berlin was worth our while. I always say that if you can make it there you can make it anywhere,” he said.
Axel Biermann, managing director of Ruhr Tourismus GmbH added, “We at Ruhr Tourismus GmbH are extremely satisfied with the way ITB Berlin 2009 went. The reactions to Metropole Ruhr as the ITB partner region were positive throughout.”
“Several large tour operators have agreed to long term collaboration with our region. Trade visitors, members of the media and the general public all expressed very keen interest. We believe that ITB Berlin has helped us take a huge stride forward en route to our mid-term goal of establishing Metropole Ruhr as an attractive travel destination.”
The Ruhr metropolitan area will in 2010 be the Cultural Capital of Europe. This title has united the 53 cities, towns and parishes that make up the region and its 5,300,000 inhabitants into a new metropolitan area. Germany’s Ruhr area has had a 150 year industrial history, making made it into one of the largest European population centres. For centuries it was dominated by the coal and steel industries and the decline of these was a huge challenge for the people in the Ruhr.
