The world’s largest travel fair, the ITB in Berlin, opened its doors on Wednesday, with more than 11,000 exhibitors representing 187 countries.

Popular tourist destinations such as Italy and Spain are present at the fair, alongside less common holiday countries such as Gambia and Uzbekistan. This year’s partner country is Turkey.

On the first two days, the ITB is open to industry members only. From Saturday, the public is also invited to visit the fair, spread across 26 halls at Berlin’s sprawling Funkturm exhibition grounds.

Up to 170,000 people are expected to visit the ITB, which is seen as a barometer for worldwide travel and tourism trends.

After a dip in tourism sales last year, the head of theGerman Travel Association Klaus Laepple said the industry was cautiously optimistic at the start of the 2010 travel season.