Feel Good? Germany Will Make You Feel Better

Germany is gearing up to welcome the world as tourism and cultural businesses in the country gradually reopen and entry regulations are relaxed.

Not surprisingly, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is ready to go and is launching three campaigns to make sure that travellers will look to Germany for their first post-pandemic trip.

Launching internationally, the campaigns include ‘German.Local.Culture.’; ‘German.Spa.Tradition.’; and Feel Good.

While 2020 saw the industry suffer massive losses, city trips remained by far the leading segment in Germany incoming from Europe with 5.2 million trips.

At the same time, nature and recreation became more important with a greater demand for outdoor activities, and increased interest in health and wellness topics as well as sustainable holidays.

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the Executive Board of the GNTB, said that: “According to studies by the European Travel Commission (ETC) from February 2021, City Life Enthusiasts are the largest group with 33.9 percent who want to be on the road again within the next six months. At the same time, outdoor activities will also play a major role in the second Corona summer.”

Hedorfer continued: “With the German.Local.Culture. campaign we provide a wide range of information. The service providers in Germany ensure the protection of travelers with numerous highly professional measures from low-contact check-in to hotel room disinfection and air purification, so that we can look to the restart of incoming tourism with confidence.”

That campaign addresses the increased longing of travellers for authenticity and traditions and gives insights into lived German customs from handicrafts to local and regionally typical dishes. Potential vacationers can find travel information in the subject areas of Craft, Taste, Flair and Green. The campaign-related microsite serves as a central inspiration and information hub.

The GNTB supplements its campaign content through marketing collaborations with partners in German tourism.

German.Local.Culture. Premium Partners include the Bremer Touristik-Zentrale, the German Wine Institute, Romantic Rhine Tourism, the Investment and Marketing Company Saxony-Anhalt and Stuttgart Marketing.

As well, the GNTB also relies on Germany’s good reputation for sustainability. The country is among the top five worldwide in the UNWTO’s 2020 SDG index. And the GNTB’s Feel Good sustainability campaign, which has been expanded to include new content, is linked to this.

Said Hedorfer: “In many of our source markets, awareness of sustainability has increased significantly. Corona has now become the amplifier of a trend that has been emerging for a long time. This is an opportunity for Germany as a travel destination. Service providers have developed offers along the entire value chain for many years with great professionalism and are continuously expanding them.”

She also pointed out that: “With Feel Good, we communicate certified offers on an international level in a targeted manner.” T

he inspirations and offers compiled on a microsite are selected by the GNTB in cooperation with the regional marketing organizations and external sustainability experts.

And with the German.Spa.Tradition campaign, the GNTO is promoting the important travel motivation “wellness and relaxation” highlighted by the ETC study. It positions Germany as a wellness and health destination with high quality standards and a long tradition.

Among other things, the campaign highlights Sebastian Kneipp’s 200th anniversary and his holistic health philosophy, which is still effective today in medical-therapeutic applications and wellness offers.

Hedorfer said: “The more than 350 rated spa and medicinal baths are of great importance for Germany as a travel destination. In the pre-Corona period of 2019, Germany recorded 7.2 million international overnight stays in healing and health resorts, which corresponds to eight percent of the total overnight stays. At the same time, as a result of the pandemic, there is great interest in wellness and health vacations.”

The campaigns German.Spa.Tradition. and Feel Good will start in June and July 2021, respectively.

Go to www.germany.travel for more.