Berlin, 29 April 2014 Berlin also inspires the upscale travel sector: From 26 to 29 April 2014 approximately 500 participants joined up for the "Virtuoso" Symposium in the German capital. For four days, they had the opportunity to inform themselves about the city's offers for the upmarket travel sector. The world's leading association of international luxury tour operators has held its annual symposium in Berlin for the first time ever. Berlin was able to prevail as the host city for the “Virtuoso” Symposium in an international selection process.

"We are delighted to have won the Virtuoso Symposium for Berlin," says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. Affluent visitors are a tourist group that is rapidly growing in the city, and thanks to the Virtuoso network, we are able to reach them all over the world. Virtuoso will attract man many more international visitors to whom we can prove: Berlin offers everything that the discerning luxury traveler is looking for."

During the last four days, the city has presented itself as a destination to the international representatives of the luxury travel industry from 38 countries. The Rocco Forte Hotel de Rome, KaDeWe department store and The Ritz-Carlton, The Regent and the Adlon Kempinski hotels were among the attractions which showcased their attraction for the upmarket target group.

Matthew D. Upchurch, Chairman and CEO of Virtuoso Network, draws a positive balance: "Berlin has been a revelation for many Symposium attendees and those familiar with the city are enjoying the opportunity to experience it in a more exclusive way. With its art and culture, intriguing venues and world-class cuisine, Berlin has been an ideal location to bring together the 500+ travel executives and suppliers who joined us this week. Currently Berlin accounts for 46 percent of our hotel sales to Germany and I am certain that will increase as we share our experience with our clients."

According to the latest conference statistics for 2013* from the Berlin Convention Office of visitBerlin, 126,200 events took place in Berlin in the last year. 20 per cent of the events were held by associations. Measured by the number of participants, meetings and conferences related to “Culture, Leisure and Tourism” represented ten per cent of the total in 2013.

Voices of the participants via Twitter: #virtuososym.