DUBAI, 11 May 2022: The German National Tourist Board is relaunching two local culture and nature campaigns during the Arabian Travel Mart this week to reach out to GCC travellers*.
The highly successful campaigns ‘German.Local.Culture’ and ‘Embrace German Nature’ form a compelling tourism proposition that reflects authentic, local experiences in urban destinations while shining a light on rural areas and their sustainable tourism.
“We want to inspire GCC travellers. Germany is a diverse destination and ideal for longer holidays for the culturally minded families and those who enjoy outdoor pursuits and natural beauty,” said German National Tourist Office director of sales & marketing for the GCC, Yamina Sofo.
After more than two years of travel restrictions, Germany is once again becoming a popular destination for GCC Nationals.GCC nationals booked 518,516 overnight stays in Germany during 2021, an 82.3% increase over 2020.
In December 2021 alone, despite the outbreak of the Omicron variant, Germany recorded over 54,493 overnight stays from the GCC region, an increase of 335%, compared with the same period in 2020,
“These figures show that Germany is a preferred destination for GCC Nationals. Visitor numbers in 2021 rebounded significantly, which is even more impressive given COVID travel restrictions in Germany only eased end of June 2021. The GCC is now the highest inbound performing region within Asia, Australasia and South Africa,” added Sofo.
This has clearly been supported by the way in which the GCC countries have responded to the pandemic, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are currently ranked second and sixth respectively in the world, according to Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking on 31 March 2022, with a combined 846 vaccinated travel routes.
‘Cities & Culture’ and ‘Nature & Outdoors Activities’ that highlight sustainability and accessibility form the bedrock of Germany’s tourism offering. According to research conducted by IPK International on behalf of the GNTB, city breaks (59%), multi-destination tours (34%) and holidays in nature (30%) are the most popular types of holidays with travellers from around the world.
Arabian Travel Market 2022 takes place from 9-12 May, and the Germany stand is located in the Europe Hall EU1235
*Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
