The AER Annual Conference 2023 marked a new beginning after two years of planning under pandemic conditions. Held in Amsterdam, this event for the Alliance of Independent Travel Agencies (AER) brought together 500 travel agencies and 400 specialized tour operators, with a large portion focused on sustainable travel.
About AER
AER is an alliance of 500 travel agencies and 400 specialized tour operators, many of whom focus on sustainable travel. The AER Cooperation AG manages all commercial offerings on behalf of AER e.V. (registered association). The annual conference plays a key role in AER’s broader strategy: strengthening its members, fostering ongoing education, and collectively developing innovative solutions for current and future challenges.
To bring this strategy to life, embedding the association’s member meeting within a creative and dynamic event format requires thoughtful planning. The event was able to strike the right balance between formal structure and an inspiring atmosphere—ensuring delegates leave both well-informed and highly engaged.
Event Goals & Planning Considerations
After planning under pandemic conditions for two years, the Annual Conference 2023 was designed to mark a fresh start. AER aimed to strengthen the industry and create an inspiring event for its members.
The focus was on addressing current tourism challenges and providing targeted training for participants. AER wanted to create a strong network and encourage exchange between members and partners, moving away from competitive thinking toward a community of learning and sharing.
The event was designed as flexibly as possible, enabling active participation and exchange. The varying needs of all participants were considered to create an atmosphere where everyone could develop and gain new impulses. The member meeting needed to be seamlessly and appealingly integrated into the conference.
Schedule:
The two-day program included arrival and departure days plus three evening events for networking and exchange.
Logistical Challenges:
Since AER’s headquarters are in Bielefeld, Amsterdam offered an even better location than Berlin the year before. The team transported equipment directly by van on setup day.
Core Objectives:
- Motivate and inspire members
- Provide training and future orientation for members
- Promote networking and exchange among members and with partners
- Present AER’s own travel agency chain “FAIRWEG” and sharpen awareness of sustainable travel
The Solution
Amsterdam offered itself as a vibrant metropolis perfect for the conference location. AER partnered with KLM as the main sponsor and chose modern venues that aligned perfectly with its goals.
The central industry themes of sustainability, skilled labor shortage, and AI formed the core content of the program.
Event Concept:
- Thursday: Welcome evening and networking
- Friday: Member meeting, diverse excursions around Amsterdam, evening event surrounded by flowers at the Arendshoeve greenhouse
- Saturday: Impulse presentations on industry topics, innovative barcamp, elegant gala dinner in a former church – the Koepelkerk
AER designed the barcamp to be the heart of the event—replacing traditional program points with a modern venue featuring six varied rooms. They brought the space to life with a central networking area, partner booths, and themed rooms. The event offered infotainment on sustainability and artificial intelligence, a generational dialogue between young and experienced tourism professionals and a discussion platform on the future of flying. The “Fuck-Up Sessions” addressing failure were a highlight. Guests could simply drift and discover the different rooms as they pleased.
Through this reorientation of the program, AER encouraged active participation and engagement from its members and ensured that the event was both informative and inspiring.
Implementation
Internal Team:
The project team consisted of Heidi (Head of Marketing and Communication), Kristin (Member Communication), Michaela (Press and Public Relations), Christina (Event Management and Project Management for annual conferences), Carolin (in-house moderator), Michael (sponsor support), 6 field sales representatives (event promotion), and 3 internal sales representatives (first-level support for members and booking assistance).
Key Stakeholders:
- KLM (main sponsor) supported with flight arrivals and was involved in various airport excursions on Friday afternoon and the Saturday evening event
- Postillion Hotel was the contact for room bookings, conference room, technology, catering, and Thursday evening event
- DMC Holland-Destination-Management supported with organizing and conducting excursions and was the main contact for the evening event at Arendshoeve (Friday)
- DMC Creators-of-Life was the main contact for the evening event at Koepelkerk (Saturday)
Challenges:
- Language barrier: With Amsterdam as a foreign conference location, the language barrier was a challenge. Alongside common translation tools, the team often used Teams to quickly clarify any ambiguities.
- Budget: After the site inspection, AER had the tough choice between impressive but high-priced evening venues. After the main contact left the DMC, communication was initially bumpy, leaving the organization without a Saturday evening venue. At IMEX Koepelkerk venue was recommended. This turned to be the perfect addition for the gala evening.
- Innovative event concept: Another challenge was the acceptance of the new barcamp concept. The team introduced the concept in advance via a Teams call and shared an overview. Well-briefed sales colleagues supported participants on-site.
Particularly Innovative Areas:
The barcamp as an open event concept was the most innovative area. No one missed the timed workshops and the classic travel market. The networking area buzzed with activity, drawing large crowds to partner booths. The themed rooms also saw strong attendance. In the Fuck-Up Sessions, guests openly shared their biggest failures, creating space for mutual learning. The short talks on specialized travel drew strong interest, while the AI session filled the room with curious attendees.
Unexpected Problems:
- Rail strike & emergency plan: With packed suitcases and anticipation for the conference, attendees were abruptly stopped the evening before departure: German rail strike on arrival day! Full of energy, the AER team informed all participants, created emergency plans, and worked closely with the railway. Together, they fought against adversity and enabled – thanks to carpools and the hotel’s goodwill – almost all guests to participate, albeit somewhat delayed.
- Buffet fiasco & pizza rescue: On the first evening, after an exhausting journey, participants looked forward to a delicious buffet. Then came the surprise—everything disappeared after just 20 minutes! The team reacted fast: they ordered pizzas on the spot and personally served guests in the 5-star hotel. What began as a disaster ended as a funny anecdote and created a good atmosphere. Analysis showed a combination of cultural differences in eating habits, miscalculation by the hotel, and long travel without warm food led to the dilemma. With flexibility, teamwork, and a dash of humor, the team mastered the challenges.
Results
Exceeded Goals:
The Annual Conference in Amsterdam exceeded expectations and achieved all set goals:
- Increased member motivation through unforgettable experiences like the sold-out KLM Operation Control Center and the gala dinner in a historic church
- Preparation for future challenges
- Enthusiastic members praised the high level, inspiring environment, and diverse activities
- Partners praised the lively exchange and considerable number of follow-up appointments
Strategic Achievements:
- Knowledge transfer and continuing education: Successful training of members in skilled labor shortage and AI areas, as well as follow-up bookings for in-depth training
- Network building and exchange: The innovative barcamp strengthened the network and enabled discussions and learning in a relaxed atmosphere
- Sustainable travel: The presentation of the “FAIRWEG” travel agency chain and raising awareness of sustainable travel led to knowledge exchange and new cooperations
- Image gain: Setting the conference apart from previous events and reporting in the trade press
Business Impact:
The AER Annual Conference 2023 was not only an inspiring event for members but also a complete success with measurable impacts on the organization’s business.
- Strengthened cooperation and outstanding conditions: The conference offered an ideal forum for personal exchange and in-depth discussions with partners. Participants strengthened existing business relationships and kicked off new collaborations. By bundling demand, AER was able to negotiate outstanding conditions with partners for its members.
- Sustainable knowledge transfer and expert binding: AER entered into mostly long-term relationships with speakers and experts. Members had the opportunity to participate in workshops and individual coaching. Speakers who impressed at the conference saw a rise in bookings on the continuing education platform. This shows members’ desire to put what they’ve learned into practice and sustainably optimize their businesses.
- Community feeling and mutual benefit: The conference strengthened the bond within AER member companies. The exchange between tour operators and travel agencies led to mutual benefits. Travel agencies could sell tailored individual trips from member companies.
- Strengthened brand image and increased visibility: The presence of the press led to positive reports in leading tourism media. This increased AER’s visibility and reputation in the industry.
Concrete Results:
- Strengthened position in negotiations with partners
- Increased sales of continuing education offerings
- Strengthening of bonds within the cooperation
- Strong increase in in-house sales
The AER Annual Conference 2023 has positioned the organization as a dynamic and progressive association that clearly focuses on the needs of members and industry challenges. It was an important catalyst for the business and has led to measurable successes in all areas.
Environmental & Social Impact
Sustainability at AER:
Sustainability has a very high priority for AER, which is also reflected in its long-standing cooperation with “forum anders reisen,” which has been advocating for sustainable tourism for over 20 years. Together with members committed to environmentally conscious travel, AER is working on establishing “FAIRWEG” offices, which have embodied the philosophy of sustainable travel since 2022.
Environmental Protection vs. In-Person Events:
- Travel and compensation: Despite the challenges events can pose to the environment, in-person events, when used selectively, provide tremendous added value. To minimize the CO₂ footprint, AER has taken appropriate measures. The organization promotes travel by public transport and has been compensating for the entire event for years.
- Catering: AER also focuses on sustainability in catering, with regional vegetarian dishes and conscious meat consumption to conserve resources and avoid waste.
Social – Strengthening Community:
- Source of inspiration – beyond the conference: It’s important to AER that its conferences are more than just events – they should serve as sources of inspiration. The topics of skilled labor shortage, employee satisfaction, sustainability, and AI are occupying the industry, which is why AER has specifically informed and promoted exchange on these topics.
- Gen Z vs. Boomer: The exchange between young tourism professionals and the industry’s veterans triggered some aha moments, leading travel agency owners to rethink their approach to designing the work environment.
- Sustainable tourism: The topic of sustainable tourism and the ambivalence between air travel and a sustainable lifestyle continue to be burning issues for tourism professionals. There is always a need for discussion and learning about how to best combine these aspects.
- Increasing the supply of sustainable travel: With its own travel agency chain, AER is also setting an example for sustainable tourism and motivating customers to travel more consciously. The long-term goal: Significantly more sustainable travel in the German market! Surveys show: The desire for sustainable travel is high. AER wants to use this potential and specifically expand the offer.
Embracing Diversity:
- Diversity in tourism: The tourism industry and Amsterdam have one thing in common – their diversity! Diversity has been openly lived in the industry for years, and Amsterdam itself has over 100 LGBTQ+ bars, clubs, saunas, and shops, making it one of the largest LGBTQ+ scenes in all of Europe. AER wanted to openly incorporate this aspect and, as a crowning conclusion, integrated a drag queen show into the gala evening, celebrating openness and diversity – an absolute highlight with a great response.
Inclusion – Areas for Improvement:
- Participants with limitations: This year, through a participant suffering from Long Covid, AER learned to better consider the needs of all participants, especially those with health limitations. This focus will be incorporated even more strongly into planning in the future. For this, AER would also like to exchange ideas with one of its member companies that specializes in barrier-free vacation travel.
In conclusion, AER’s efforts have shown that it is on a good path, but there is always room for improvement. The organization is determined to continue designing its events with open eyes to continuously advance both environmental protection and social, diverse, and inclusive progress.
Summary
AER succeeded in transforming its annual conference with new energy into an unforgettable event. The organization is particularly proud of the first-class organization of the international conference and how the team collectively overcome language barriers. The barcamp was enthusiastically received – clear proof that AER exceeded expectations and met the needs of its members.
It’s important to highlight the team’s commitment: Everyone put in tremendous effort, grew beyond themselves, and made an important contribution to the overall success. Strong collaboration played a key role in the event’s success. This team spirit defines AER and stands out as something truly exceptional.
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