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Approximately 1,400 tourism professionals from 43 countries made the trip to this year’s annual Germany Travel Mart (GTM) held in the city of Rostock.  This was the first occasion that the event had been hosted in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and 20 years since the unification of Germany.   After recording a 2 percent increase in overnight stays during 2008, the worldwide economic crisis affected Germany with falls in Q1 of 2009, business travel particularly badly affected.  Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) commented that despite the pessimistic forecasts for 2009, Germany expected a fall of only 1 percent in international tourism in 2009, better than that of their European neighbors.

 

Among those present at a press conference to launch the 35th German Travel Mart were Ernst Hinsken the Federal Government Commissioner for Tourism, Jürgen Seidel the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Labor and Tourism for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lars Redeligx head of Pricing and Business Development at Lufthansa and Petra Hedorfer CEO for the German National Tourist Board.

 

With the effects of the economic recession hitting tourism, the GNTB decided to modify their marketing strategy, focusing on the slogan “Affordable hospitality – Destination Germany. Great deals. Easy booking.”  With visitors to Germany spending on average €67 a day on travel, accommodation, food, drink and excursions, Germany ranks as 7th place in World rankings for leading holiday destinations but cheaper than Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Spain, Italy and the UK.

 

Data from the German Federal Statistical Office showed that overnight stays in Germany during 2008 totaled 369.6 million (+2.1%) of which 56.5 million (+3.2%) were foreign visitors. With the recession biting, the first two months of 2009 saw overnights down by 4% and with a 7% fall in foreign tourists.  The number of Israelis visiting Germany during 2008 totaled 382,439 an increase of 3.4% on 2007.

 

Petra Hedorfer commented that after every crisis the boom always outweighed the bust.  She said that the GNTB saw many excellent marketing opportunities and among those that they would focus on were Germany’s exceptional value for money as a travel destination, with some of the most affordable accommodation in Europe plus the quality of the Germany tourist package.

 

Germany was also investing heavily in the active holiday market with focus on the wellness, health and fitness segment of the tourism market.  The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall plus expansion of tourism in the former states of East Germany presented another opportunity which the GNTB would exploit.  Finally she added that there would be focus on Germany as a leading destination for culture and events with among other things, its many UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than 4,000 museums and 5,000 castles, manor houses and palaces and more than 3 million events held a year.

 

Representatives for the Baltic Hanseatic city of Rostock and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) expressed their delight at hosting the GTM.  In 2008 there were 10 million overnight stays making MV the second most visited destination in Germany.  With 16.5 percent of the work force either directly or indirectly employed in the industry, tourism is a significant economic factor for the state. 

 

Jürgen Seidel, who is the only dedicated Minister of Tourism at state level, stressed that the maritime atmosphere, the Baltic Sea beaches, clean air, fascinating scenery with vast stretches of unspoiled nature, a unique Lakeland and a modern tourist infrastructure had resulted in the state becoming one of the most popular summer destinations in recent years.   As well as art and culture, he said that there was a wide range of attractive options for active relaxation included aquatic, cycling, hiking, golf and wellness holidays.  

 

In 2008 there were more than 837,000 overnight stays in MV from foreign tourists; this represented an increase of more than 11 percent on the previous year.

 

During a question and answer session the point was raised that the airport in Rostock only catered for internal flights from the German cities of Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Munich; while the nearest international airports in Hamburg and Berlin were some 2 hours away.  Petra Hedorfer responded that while the airport in Rostock could handle international flights, the market currently did not support regular international flights to the city.