Germany launches ‘Traditions and Customs’ tourism campaign

The German National Tourist Board 2015 promotion meeting, themed “Traditions and Customs”, was held on Feb 4 in Beijing at the Hotel Maximilian, the first affiliate of German Steigenberger Hotel Group in China.

According to data between January to November 2014 from the German Federal Bureau of Statistics, Germany is expected to witness a new peak for the fifth time in 2014. Hotels with over 10 beds in Germany saw a total of 70.2 million nights of stay by foreign tourists, an increase of 3 million (4.6 percent) compared with 2013. Among them, the Asian market showed fast-growing momentum with 11 percent growth. China, with about 1.9 million nights (up 16.9 percent), has become one of the most important sources of inbound tourists. Li Zhaohui, chief representative of the German National Tourist Board Beijing Office, said that five years ago, a target of 2 million Chinese tourists was set for 2020. However, now that the target is almost realized, the number has been adjusted to 2.2 million.

A recent survey shows that Chinese tourists still favor Bavaria (the nights of stay exceeding more than one-fourth of the total), Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wuerttemberg in Southwest Germany. In terms of cities, it is worth noting that Munich has surpassed Frankfurt to become the most frequented city by Chinese tourists, followed by Berlin and Cologne. Business travelers still frequent the more developed regions, while tourists mainly visit traditional tourist attractions. In other words, cross-border tours of Europe are still more popular than single-country visits. Despite such circumstances, the Chinese market has maintained near 17 percent growth. Li believes that as Chinese tourists gain an increasingly better understanding of the tourist destinations, travel patterns will undergo in-depth transformation. As German visas witness continuous improvement in convenience, Germany, as a tourist destination, will live up to its immense potential.