TORONTO — The Germany Travel Mart (GTM) is going virtual this year in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, with plans to return in full in 2021.

Dubbed the “biggest incoming workshop for Destination Germany,” the virtual event is set to take place from June 22-24 in close cooperation with the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which has been confirmed to host the 2021 GTM from April 25-27.

According to Tobias Woitendorf, director of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Tourist Board, preparations for 2021 have already begun.

“We are already looking forward to welcome the key accounts of the international travel industry to the physical GTM in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,” he said. “We will use the virtual GTM 2020 to present our federal state with a webinar on the destination.”

In addition to live meetings between suppliers and hosted buyers, the German National Tourist Board will be including webinars and on-demand content for the virtual GTM this year.

The participation fee for the Virtual GTM is 79 EUR for German suppliers; suppliers listed on the GTM distribution list will be contacted automatically. Prospective suppliers can register online here.

For the last 46 years the GTM has served as a platform for business contracts and contract conclusions between more than 500 key accounts of the international travel industry and approximately 350 German suppliers. Participants from over 45 countries complete up to 20,000 face-to-face client meetings each year.

On this year’s virtual format, Petra Hedorfer, Chairwoman of the GNTB Executive Board, said: “In order to foster and further enhance the key contacts of our partners of Germany tourism with international buyers and multipliers, we are going to offer the GTM in the form of a digital event this year. With this we are building a bridge for the recovery programs for 2020/2021 and the next physical GTM.”