The 40th German Travel Mart kicked off Saturday night in Bremen, the smallest of Germany's 16 states. In the town where the Bremen town musicians came to play, the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) has much to crow about after a year (2013) that saw their foreign overnights exceed 70 million and reach 71.6 million (+4 percent), setting a record for the fourth consecutive year. On the opening night of the GTM, delegates gathered in the city's Universum Science Center, a building that underscores Bremen's and Germany's strong reputations as high tech centers.
With Petra Hedorfer, the GNTO's CEO, ill, the job of delivering the state of German Tourism's presentation went to Michaela Klare, the current GNTO director of North Eastern Europe and the one time director of the GNTO's New York Office.
Klare's presentation was broken into five separate sections:
1) What are the reasons for the record results? The biggest reason for that success was Germany's popularity with European travelers. Europe had 432 million travelers who ventured outside of their own countries in 2013 and 366 million of them traveled within Europe. While Spain with its sunny beaches were their top destination, Germany came in second and about 72 million overnights were recorded by European travelers. About 4.9 million U.S. travelers arrived in Germany in 2013 for a growth of 1.3 percent.
2) Why do visitors from abroad travel to German? About 26 percent of Germany's visitors were business travelers and 11 percent more were visiting friends and relatives. About 26 million, or 54 percent, were tourists. The German scenic landscape and its cultural resources including 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites were the two biggest motivators. Another catalyst was German value. German hotels offered really good value. In Berlin, for instance, hotel rates averaged €88 per night. The most popular destinations within the country are in order of bednights: Bavaria, Berlin and Baden-Württemberg.
3) Who is generating the revenue? Of the €41 billion earned from tourism in 2013, €24 was earned from neighboring Europeans. From overseas, the U.S. was the top market for revenues. The U.S. generated €4.8 billion in revenues.
4) Which themes are we focusing on? Going forward, Germany will continue with its marketing practice of focusing on themes. In recent years we've seen such themes as food and wine, calls to ethnic Germans around the world and this year, it's the country's inventory of UNESCO Sites. Tourism will continue to rely on Germany's cultural contribution to the world, but it will also put more emphasis on rural areas and off-path destinations.
5) Where do we go from here? Germany's diversity of experience will be more heavily emphasized, especially leaning on its UNESCO branded attractions. In 2017, the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther will be heavily promoted. On Nov. 9 of this year, the examination of 25 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall will be heavily promoted. The GNTO wants to go beyond the focus on Berlin and look at how those changes have shaped the whole country. In 2015, Traditions and Customs will be promoted and in 2016 Holidays in the Heart of Nature.
Speaking separately, Klare expressed optimism for the U.S. market. "We think that Americans are going to really respond to Luther year 2017," said Klare. "His influence is so powerful in the U.S. and it gives us a real opportunity to reach out to people who are influenced by him through religion as well as people who just see what an important historic legacy he left."
The GNTO has expressed a positive outlook for 2014 and beyond that's underpinned by the results of the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) study. The UNWTO predicts worldwide travel to increase by 4 to 4.5 percent in 2014, with Europe's share at 3 to 4 percent. Hedorfer has already predicted a 1 to 3 percent in 2014, and said, "As for the long term, though, for 2020, we believe a total of 80-million foreign overnights is a realistic figure."
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