GNTO set to hit the road

The German National Tourist Office’s (GNTO) Canadian office is set to host a series of cross-Canada travelling trade show events, Destination Germany. Industry professionals in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will have the opportunity to meet locally with key tourism partners supplying travel services to Germany. The GNTO expects about 250 agents and tour wholesalers to attend. “Germany is becoming increasingly popular with Canadian travellers, and is now the third-most visited European travel destination behind the United Kingdom and Italy,”says Ricarda Lindner, regional director for the GNTO in the Americas. “This upward trend is set to continue.”Aimed specially at the Canadian market, Destination Germany takes place in Toronto, March 19, in Montreal, March 20, in Vancouver, March 21. A record total of 16 foremost suppliers for travel to Germany represent a full complement of the industry’s sectors, including air and ground transportation, major hotels, tourism regions and cities and their sites, along with inbound operators. This year’s Destination Germany events add a new component to the customary trade show, followed by dinner and an official presentation. The GNTO will send its registered travel trade guests on a pre-dinner scavenger hunt to collect crucial clues from the suppliers. They will then enter their score sheets into a draw for two grand prizes that each includes round-trip airfares to Germany, hotel accommodation and rail passes along with sightseeing tours and more. The GNTO’s sales activities at the three events will focus on the 2013 marketing theme, “Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative”and the two key PR themes, the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth and the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm’s first edition of the Children’s and household tales. For more information on the road show and how to participate, contact GNTO’s sales manager for Canada, Sophia Schlundt at [email protected]vel .