Life after the Reisepavillon

The Reisepavillion was a successful and well-known trade-fair focusing on sustainable tourism that took place annually in Germany from 1991 - 2010. EUROPARC attended the fair regularly with a display about the European Charter. The organiser Anke Biedenkapp took some time from her time-out in England to tell us about the fair and why they decided to discontinue the event...

As many of those who attended the Reisepavillon will know, it was a place to meet, exchange information, to network, to sell and to fall in love with sustainable tourism and the people dedicated to it. When we started the fair in 1991 the internet and other social networks did not yet exist. This was one reason why this small "market of alternative travel" in Hannover turned into THE international platform for sustainable tourism. The other reason was the many interesting exhibitors and professionals who supported the event throughout the years, amongst them the EUROPARC Federation and various protected areas from across Europe.

Nowadays this unique platform is no longer needed. This is sad but satisfying at the same time: Sad because it is the end of an era and an opportunity to find so many open minded people and interesting projects in one place. Satisfying because the concept of sustainable tourism, which used to be incomprehensible and unthinkable is now widely accepted by tourism businesses and destinations. Thus, after 19 long and successful years with hundreds of annual exhibitors, an average of 23.000 visitors, and several international awards, we decided to bring this outstanding project to an appropriate end. We, the organisers, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the event in the Federal Press- and Information Bureau, Berlin.

The decision to discontinue the Reisepavillon has also meant calling it a day with my own job. After 20 years of being responsible for a huge enterprise, coordinating the event and being in charge of employees, partners, politicians, suppliers and money, I decided it was time for a change of perspective and take some time out to improve my language skills. Thanks to my network I ended up in Scotland working on another challenging project: the Cairngorm Business Partnership. Challenging because it was completely new territory, because I did not know the staff and they did not know me, and because I am went to improve my rusty English.

For some weeks now I have been doing the tasks I used to delegate whilst running the Reisepavillon. I have been: updating the database, carrying out surveys in the National Park and promoting the new information system in the villages of the area by putting posters in windows of shops and entities. It has been a great experience to learn more about managing from the bottom of the pile. Many thanks go to my "employers" and colleagues who trusted in me and who explained patiently how and what to do!

I can highly recommend taking a break from what you usually do and changing your perspective. I know how difficult it is to leave a very busy project, in the evenings, at the end of the week and for annual leave - you always carry it with you in your mind and in your briefcase. A change, however, makes you think differently about yourself, others, your career and gives you time to consider the rest of the world beside your own daily challenges. For those providing the internship there are also advantages; having an intern with an interesting professional background means that the hosting organisation can benefit from the wealth of her/his experiences.

Anke Biedenkapp, August 2011. Anke will be heading to a South America to work with an organisation on a tourism project next.