German insurance broker and travel insurance specialist Dr. Walter GmbH participated again this year in the World Youth and Student Travel Conference WYSTC. The world’s leading trade event for youth and educational travel took place from 22 to 25 September 2009 in Manchester, UK, and featured more than 900 participants from over 90 countries. Now in its 18th year, the conference offered a comprehensive program. With its seminars, presentations and workshops, the conference provided a great opportunity to meet and discuss the latest developments and trends in the area of youth travel. As every year, the WYSTC brought together all major operators of youth and educational travel, making it the perfect forum to establish and maintain business contacts.

One of the major topics this year was sustainability. It was made clear that sustainable tourism can have a major positive effect on prosperity and health in developing countries. That’s why the WYSTC 2009 launched its very first "green initiative": In order to minimize the environmental impact of the conference, the WYSTC enlisted the expertise of Green Globe to help identify, improve and monitor the participants’ environmental performance.

Worldwide networking with the operators of international youth and educational travel is of vital strategic importance for Dr. Walter GmbH.
As an insurance broker, Dr. Walter is also a member of WYSE Travel Confederation, one of the largest associations for youth and educational travel worldwide. More than 550 of the world's leading youth & student travel organizations from 118 countries are members of WYSE Travel Confederation.

In the past, Dr. Walter GmbH has focused mainly on developing and mediating insurance solutions for au pairs, language students and employees of international enterprises and aid organizations that either came from or traveled to Germany. Whereas nowadays the company also provides insurance cover for travelers of all nationalities during their stays abroad in any country worldwide.

Next year, the WYSTC will be held in Beijing, China, for the second time since 1988. The fact that the WYSTC 2009 in Manchester saw a record number of Chinese participants perfectly reflects the dynamics of the Asian market. With regard to the number of people traveling to and from China, the country is one of the biggest players when it comes to language travel, studying abroad and cultural exchange. Dr. Walter GmbH has also taken this trend into account and developed special insurance solutions for Chinese travelers that can be purchased online in Chinese.

The Managing Director of Dr. Walter GmbH, Reinhard Bellinghausen, believes that the participation in this year’s WYSTC was very successful for the company: "The WYSTC offered a great opportunity for us to easily get together with our international partners and also establish new and promising business relationships."

In 2009, Dr. Walter GmbH celebrates its 50th anniversary. The company turned from a small family business in 1959 into one of Germany’s leading experts in insuring private and business travel as well as stays abroad.

For further information go to:
www.wystc.org