"Bestival" 2023: Berlin impressed the international tourism and event industry

  • Around 1,000 international guests from the tourism and event industry came to the best practice festival in Berlin on 6 and 7 July
  • At the "Bestival", Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey announced an extension of measures from the Restart Programme for Berlin’s event industry
  • The "Bestival" receives international certification for sustainable event management
Bestival ©  visitBerlin, Foto: Frank Nürnberger
The business festival took place in the locations "Heeresbäckerei" and "SAGE Beach

Berlin, 10 July 2023 Success for the "Bestival": more than 1,000 guests came to the international best practice festival of the Berlin tourism and event industry on 6 and 7 July - a new record for the business event. This makes “Bestival” the largest showcase event of any destination worldwide. For two days, the experts got to know the latest offers of the capital in lectures and workshops as well as on site inspections.

The "Bestival" was certified as a sustainable event ©  visitBerlin
The "Bestival" was certified as a sustainable event

In addition, the "Bestival" convinced as a sustainable event. The independent inspection authority "GUTcert" certified the event planning according to the internationally recognized standard ISO 20121 - a great recognition for the comprehensive concept of the event. For example, the CO2 emissions generated were fully compensated. This is another step towards making Berlin one of the most sustainable cities in Europe.

Press conference at the beginning of the "Bestival" on 6 July 2023 ©  visitBerlin, Foto: Frank Nürnberger
Press conference at the beginning of the "Bestival" on 6 July 2023

Measures from the Restart Programme for Berlin's event industry to be extended

At a press conference at the beginning of the "Bestival", Franziska Giffey, Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises, announced that individual measures from the Senate's successful Restart Programme for the city's event industry will be continued over the next two years. The aim is to put Berlin's event industry in a crisis-resistant position. One focus, for example, will be on promoting the sustainability of the industry.

Statements of the "Bestival" guests

Bestival ©  visitBerlin

Statements of the "Bestival" guests

The guests of the "Bestival" also gave a positive feedback:

“One of the best trade shows I have ever been to,” says Kate Scully, Head of Business Travel Operations & Providers bei Howden Group Holdings, UK.

"This is how Berlin needs to present the city! The Bestival is an excellent marketing operation," summarizes Prof. Andreas Jain, Professor of City Marketing at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences in Salzgitter, Germany.

„The Bestival is the best and unique event to experience Berlin and to discover unexpected venues, hotels and amazing suppliers to partner with in the future,” adds Didier Nefzi, President von Magnitude Events & Services, France.

"Bestival showed me the diversity of this wonderful city," says Fátima Barbero, Global Events Manager at Forto Logistics, Spain.

"Congratulations for the perfect organization of the Bestival. I would like to highlight the quality of the workshops. We felt like at home", says Rafael Grande, General Manager of the Event Managers Association (EMA), Spain.

More impressions can be found at #Bestival23 on LinkedIn.

The Bestival was organised by visitBerlin together with the industry associations visitBerlin Partnerhotels, BEN Berlin Event Network and INTOURA. More than 180 Berlin companies from the industry participate in the business event. For the first time, Tourismus-Marketing Brandenburg GmbH presented itself together with three Brandenburg partners at the "Bestival". They showed the diversity of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. The event is part of the Restart Programme for Berlin's tourism and event industry and was sponsored by the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises.

Impressions of the "Bestival"

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