TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
Each year, the German National Tourist Board plans out its global campaign and a more focused one for the Gulf Corporation Council countries in both B2B and B2C segments. Sigrid de Mazeires, Director—Gulf countries, German National Tourist Office, shares an insight to the board’s plans.
Shehara Rizly
Could you tell us about the latest campaign for UAE?
The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) entered the year 2019 with its worldwide campaign on the centenary of the foundation of the legendary Bauhaus movement in Weimar. In addition to the worldwide ‘100 years of Bauhaus’ campaign, the German National Tourist Office for the Gulf countries is also launching a wide range of market-specific B2B and B2C campaigns to promote ‘Destination Germany’ and we look forward to working closely with our trade partners throughout the GCC.
What attracts the UAE tourist to Germany?
Germany’s greatest USP is its diversity. The country is replete with myriad offerings in terms of recreation and nature, sightseeing and entertainment in our many exciting cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf or Hamburg, or shopping in our beautiful pedestrian highstreets or state-of-the-art designer outlets.
Last year, how many visitors from the UAE travelled to Germany?
Our statistics sum up all GCC countries and evaluate only GCC nationals, not expats. In 2018, we had over 1.69 million overnight stays from the region and are positive about attracting more GCC travellers to Germany in 2019. The GCC is one of the top 15 source markets for Germany and the third largest non-European source market after China and USA.
What itinerary do you suggest to UAE travellers?
Our aim is to highlight the great variety Germany has to offer all year round and to inspire travellers to explore other places like the North with its unspoiled coastline, historic castles in Lower Saxony or Berlin and its surrounding areas. GCC tourists generally love driving from one city or region to the other, as we offer great infrastructure and many themed scenic routes like the German Alpine route, Sabian Spa route and also the German Fairytale route.
What type of travellers do you receive from GCC?
Majority of tourists from the GCC are leisure travellers, and to a lesser extent, travel is conducted for business. Medical tourism is also an important segment.
What are the latest plans for marketing to the UAE?
We have joined forces with the tourist boards of Switzerland and Austria and are inviting travel trade to our ‘Heart of Europe Travel Summit’ just a few days ahead of ATM, and just after the Marhaba France Workshop with which we are also closely cooperating. Our travel trade workshop will bring together over 70 leading product providers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and will be the perfect platform for buyers from the region to do business in an attractive environment at the beautiful Sofitel Dubai The Palm
