At seven in the morning, the escalators begin to move. Thousands of delegates rise slowly into the exhibition halls of ITB Berlin, one of the world’s largest gatherings of the tourism industry. Airlines, hotel groups, tourism boards, cruise companies, and technology providers will spend the day negotiating to shape the global travel economy.
But before the first meeting begins, something else happens. Everyone searches for coffee.
Queues form quickly around espresso machines and temporary café counters. Delegates clutch schedules, scan mobile apps for their next appointment, and sip the drink that makes the travel industry function each morning.
Coffee is not just a comfort at travel trade shows. It is the unofficial fuel of the tourism economy. And increasingly, it is becoming expensive.
The $12 Coffee Moment
Last year at IMEX America, one delegate stared at a menu board in disbelief. A simple Americano costs more than twelve dollars. Not a complex specialty drink. Not a large latte with flavored syrups.
Just espresso diluted with hot water. Yet the line was long.
No one complained for long because everyone needed the same thing. IMEX America is one of the largest global events for the meetings and incentive travel sector. Thousands of event planners and suppliers pack into the halls of the Las Vegas convention district each October.
Many arrive after overnight flights across multiple time zones. The caffeine is not optional. It is operational.
Trade shows compress months of relationship-building into a few intense days. Delegates can schedule thirty or forty meetings between morning and evening. Without coffee, the entire rhythm of the event would slow down.
In that sense, the twelve-dollar Americano represents more than inflation. It symbolizes the hidden infrastructure of the travel industry.
Tourism’s Most Important Beverage
Coffee has quietly become one of tourism’s most essential products.
Hotels depend on it to start the guest experience each morning. Airports sell millions of cups to passengers navigating early departures and delayed flights. Museums, galleries, and cultural attractions rely on café spaces to encourage visitors to stay longer.
Trade shows are perhaps the most concentrated example. Consider a major international exhibition such as ITB Berlin.
Tens of thousands of professionals attend the event every year. If each delegate drinks only three cups of coffee per day, the convention centre will serve well over one hundred thousand cups during the show.
Multiply that across global events—from ITB Berlin to World Travel Market London—and coffee becomes one of the most consumed products in the tourism industry.
Yet its supply chain stretches far beyond the halls where those cups are served.
The Geography of a Cup
The coffee poured in Berlin, London, or Las Vegas begins its life thousands of kilometres away. Most coffee grows in the equatorial “bean belt,” a band of land stretching across Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia. Countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam dominate global production.
From these farms, the beans begin a long journey: farm → exporter → shipping container → importer → roaster → café. Every step in that journey adds cost.
Climate disruptions have affected harvests in several producing regions. Droughts, erratic rainfall, and plant diseases increasingly threaten coffee yields. At the same time, labour shortages have appeared in some farming regions as younger workers migrate to cities.
Shipping costs and geopolitical tensions have also influenced the trade. The result is a volatile global market, with the price of coffee beans rising significantly in recent years.
For cafés, hotels, and conference venues, that volatility eventually appears on the menu.
Coffee and the Psychology of Travel
Why does coffee matter so much in tourism? Part of the answer lies in psychology. Travel disrupts routine. Flights depart early, schedules change, and time zones shift. Coffee restores a sense of normality.
A traveler landing in a foreign city often looks first for a café. It is a familiar ritual in an unfamiliar place.
The same is true at trade shows. Delegates navigate crowded halls, rapid-fire meetings, and constant networking. Coffee provides a moment of pause—a place to breathe, review notes, and prepare for the next conversation.
It also provides a social bridge. The phrase “Let’s grab a coffee” is one of the most common invitations in the travel industry. Deals worth millions of euros often begin with that simple suggestion.
The Coffee Break Economy
Within trade shows, coffee breaks are strategically important. Event organizers schedule them carefully because they understand something fundamental about human behavior.
People talk more easily with a cup in their hands. During a coffee break, delegates wander between stands, bump into colleagues, and meet potential partners by chance.
These informal encounters often lead to business opportunities that formal meetings miss. In that sense, coffee stands function like miniature networking hubs scattered across the exhibition floor.
They are the social engines of the event. Without them, the show would feel rigid and transactional. With them, the atmosphere becomes conversational and collaborative.
The Rising Cost of Hospitality
The twelve-dollar Americano at IMEX America also reflects broader pressures on the hospitality sector.
Hotels, cafés, and conference centres face rising costs in multiple areas:
- energy
- labour
- rent
- supply chains
- ingredients
Coffee beans are only one part of the equation. Electricity powers espresso machines and grinders. Skilled baristas command higher wages in many cities. Transportation costs have increased across global logistics networks.
For venues hosting large conventions, these expenses accumulate quickly.
A cup of coffee sold inside a convention centre must cover not only the beans but the entire environment around it—the infrastructure, staffing, and service that allow thousands of delegates to move smoothly through the venue.
Coffee as Destination Branding
Another reason coffee plays such a visible role in tourism is cultural identity. Many destinations promote their café culture as part of their tourism brand.
Italy is synonymous with espresso bars where locals drink coffee standing at the counter. Vienna celebrates historic coffee houses filled with newspapers and chandeliers. Scandinavian cities have developed globally admired specialty coffee scenes emphasizing craftsmanship and sustainability. Trade shows showcase these traditions.
National tourism often serves coffee to visitors as a way of expressing hospitality and culture. An Italian exhibitor may offer a perfectly pulled espresso. A Middle Eastern pavilion might present aromatic coffee infused with spices.
Through coffee, destinations tell their story. It is one of the simplest and most effective forms of cultural diplomacy.
