In addition to consultations with potential applicants and discussions at the MCI stand, a highlight of the first day was the traditional ITB Gugelhof dinner, which has long since become a mandatory event for representatives of Tyrol at the world's largest tourism trade fair. For the 20th edition of this much-loved ITB side event, MCI and current destination partner Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis hosted the event. Numerous distinguished guests from the tourism industry, media world, and politics accepted the invitation and were able to round off a long day at the exhibition with an inspiring panel of experts.
Another highlight was the presentation of the DGT Science Award at ITB Berlin. For the fifteenth time in a row, MCI Tourism won one of the prestigious DGT-ITB Science Awards. MCI graduate Jan-Patrick Teichmann, M.A. won the renowned award in the category "Best Junior Researcher". The MCI Tourism prizewinner received this award for his master's thesis, which dealt with loyalty programs in the hotel industry and the influence of switching barriers on brand loyalty.
Following the presentation of the DGT Science Award, the traditional Welcome took place at the MCI stand. MCI Tourism welcomed students, alumni, lecturers, and partners from all over the world to this informal get-together. This year, the new head of ÖW, Astrid Steharnig-Staudinger, visited the MCI Tourism Welcome and announced that she is already looking forward to participating as a keynote speaker at the ISCONTOUR 2024 (International Students Conference in Tourism), which will take place at MCI in May.
MCI Tourism's visit to ITB was rounded off with a presentation by Hubert Siller at the ITB Convention, where he presented key findings from the new Mountain Profile Study 2023 (Source Market Survey Germany) and spoke about the future of winter sports.
Once again, MCI Tourism department's participation in ITB Berlin 2024 was a resounding success.
The 20th anniversary of the MCI ITB Gugelhof Dinner was celebrated with the destination partner of MCI Tourism, represented by Josef Schirgi (CEO Serfaus Fiss Ladis) and the co-founder of the legendary event, Harald Pechlaner (KU Eichstätt Ingolstadt) © MCI Tourism
The CEO of Österreich Werbung, Astrid Steharnig-Staudinger, visited the MCI Tourism Welcome © MCI Tourism
Jan-Patrick Teichmann was delighted to receive the DGT Science Award for his master's thesis © MCI Tourism
The fourth-semester bachelor's students in Tourism at MCI Welcome © MCI Tourism
The MCI Tourism Team at ITB Berlin © MCI Tourism
