It appears that thousands of participants the ITB Berlin 2024 trade show may get stranded in Germany’s capital city, unable to depart due to the Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn strikes planned for the end of this week.

German GDL union, that represents Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) train drivers, has declared a strike lasting 35 hours, which they claim is necessary due to the unsuccessful negotiations regarding wages and working hours. According to the union chief, the passenger train drivers strike will commence early Thursday morning – the final day if the ITB Berlin 2024 trade show, and will end at 1 pm on Saturday.

Deutsche Bahn expressed grave concern about the significant operational lapses and voiced disapproval of the union’s handling of the impasse.

The scheduled labor action of the German railways will overlap with the strike organized by the ground staff of German Lufthansa airline on Thursday and Friday, potentially causing significant disruptions to travel arrangements for numerous passengers.

A leading German labor union has urged Lufthansa ground staff to stage a fresh strike on Thursday and Friday, specifically on March 7 and 8. This action is aimed at intensifying pressure before the next round of negotiations scheduled for the following week. Lufthansa employees are expected to halt work from 4 am on Thursday morning until 7:10 am on Saturday. Given past instances of similar strikes, flight delays and cancellations are highly likely, which have previously drawn criticism towards Lufthansa.

The German economy has already suffered significant losses amounting to hundreds of millions of euros due to the ongoing conflict, and the upcoming strikes are seen as a further escalation. Negotiations between GDL and Deutsche Bahn, which lasted for weeks, came to an unsuccessful conclusion last week.

ITB Berlin Convention takes place at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds 5-7 March, 2024. Trade show organizers expect to have 24,000 attendees in 2024, spread across 4 stages with a total of 17 thematic tracks. The motto for the ITB Berlin Convention in 2024 will be: Pioneer the Transition in Travel & Tourism. Together.