The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) kicked off its annual worldwide marketing campaign ‘German Summer Cities’ with a successful brand activation event at City Walk Mall in Dubai, together with the campaign’s premium partner Lufthansa Group as well as UAE-based Al Rais Travel. In an objective to woo the Gulf travelling community to choose Germany as their preferred destination, visitors were offered a great mix of engaging activities such as VR installations, travel information through promotional staff and special promotional packages by Al Rais Travel as well as Lufthansa. The three-day event was designed to capture the essence and unique atmosphere of the many great German cities. The multi-channel ‘German Summer Cities’ campaign which is being rolled out throughout the GNTB’s 31 offices around the world includes comprehensive digital marketing, pop-up event scheme in 14 key source markets and a wide range of PR activities. The GCC is one of the Top 15 source markets for Germany and the third largest non-European source market, after China and USA. In 2016, Germany ranked top among GCC travellers, even ahead of UK, Turkey and France.
According to German Federal Statistical Office, there were 87.7 million international overnight stays recorded in accommodation establishments with at least 10 beds in 2018. For the ninth consecutive year, the number of visitors to Germany in 2018 reached record levels, showing a 5 per cent increase overall to 2017.