Goal! The impact of the 2006 World Cup
soccer championships is still reverberating in all sectors of
Germany tourism. That was the consensus at the recent 33rd annual
Germany Travel Mart tourism trade show, held in Berlin and Potsdam.
In June 2006 alone,
the Germany National Tourist Board reported a 33% increase in
overnight stays by international visitors, generating more than $1
billion in revenue for the month. Overall, international visitors
generated $3.5 billion more in revenue in 2006 than 2005, an 11.2%
increase.
While in Germany,
these visitors did not skimp on dining out, according to the German
Hotel and Restaurant Association, better known as DEHOGA, which
reported a 1.4% increase in sales over 2005, the first such
increase in years.
In all, DEHOGA
recorded its highest figure since 2000, with a record number of
52.9 million overnight stays by international visitors, a
year-over-year increase of 10%.
The growth for 2007
looks equally promising so far, with a 5.4% increase for the months
of January and February.
Despite a lack of
strong interest in the soccer championships in North America, 2006
saw a growth of 21.2% in overnight stays in Germany by visitors
from the U.S.
Petra Hedorfer, CEO
of the GNTB, credited a long-term marketing campaign to push
cultural tourism as a key factor driving those numbers.
"If you look at
overnight stays, it was not only June and July [during the World
Cup] that saw increases," she said.
"We are the second
'most cultural' destination after France for international
visitors," said Hedorfer.
She cited recent
events that focused on German cultural icons such as Bach, Mozart
and Goethe, all of which she said were popular with the U.S.
market.
In 2007, the
marketing push is "Germany -- Country of Art and Culture." The promotional theme in 2008
will be "Castles, Parks and Gardens."
Business travel is
another factor in Germany's popularity with overnight visitors,
according to Hedorfer, who cited the relative low cost of the
country's business hotels over other cities in Europe.
A study conducted
by the European Institute for the meetings industry showed that
business tourism accounted for 71.5 million overnight stays in
Germany last year, generating revenue of more than $50 billion.
Germany is the No. 1 destination in the world for trade fair travel
and in Europe for conferences and meetings, Hedorfer
said.
Planes and trains
According to the
Association of German Commercial Airports, approximately 174
million passengers arrived in Germany in 19 airports in 2006, a
5.3% boost over 2005.
Lars Redeligx,
director global sales strategy for Lufthansa, credited the multihub
concept in Germany, which allows international travelers to make
connections via Frankfurt and Munich.
He reported a 9.9%
increase in revenue in 2006 over 2005 with operating profits up by
more than $1 billion.
Train travel is on
the rise, according to Wolfgang Zoller, director of international
sales and marketing for German railway Deutsche Bahn. Zoller
stressed the importance of new and planned high-speed links between
Germany, France and Denmark.
"Our focus this
year is on city breaks," said Zoller, who pointed out that when it
comes to luring international visitors to train travel in Germany,
"speed is more important than price."
Come December,
high-speed trains will link Frankfurt and Stuttgart to Paris in
less than four hours, and by 2012 officials expect to attract some
1.5 million passengers on those two international routes
alone.
The ICE service to
Copenhagen, Denmark, from Hamburg is also slated to begin in
December, and officials expect that service will draw more than
330,000 passengers a year by 2015.
The ICE services
will replace the Danish IC trains that currently run between
Germany and Denmark.
A new image
One of the
strategic guidelines the GNTB has formulated to sustain 2007's
momentum is to enhance Germany's image as an international travel
destination among a wider demographic, officials said.
Mindful of the
proliferation of baby boomers about to retire, presumably with
disposal income and time to travel, the tourist office hopes to
generate some 31 million additional trips to Germany from visitors
age 55 and older. Target countries include the U.S., the U.K.,
France, Italy and the Netherlands.
"There are 400
million people in the 55-plus age group, and the health of the
population as a whole will likely continue to improve and people's
life expectancy will increase," said Ernst Hinsken, commissioner of
tourism for the German federal government.
Tourism focusing on
health, fitness and spas is one aspect of this marketing push, he
said.
Another positive
trend linked to the over-55 visitor is the improved infrastructure
for travelers with disabilities, according to Hedorfer.
"I think we are the
leader in Europe in this sector," she said, citing the
proliferation of elevators in train stations and a hot line number
that visitors can call to arrange wheelchair lifts at train
stations.
Next year's GTM
will take place in Munich and Augsburg from April 27 to
29.
To
contact reporter Felicity Long, send e-mail to [email protected].