A concerted effort to promote climate-friendly travel and a responsible use of all resources are essential if Destination Germany is to build on its already strong position within the international market, believes the country’s tourist board. And to that end, the German National Tourist Board says it will run three theme-based campaigns in 2023 that will continue to keep the focus of its global marketing firmly on sustainable tourism.
For example, the new GNTB campaign ‘51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Historic Modern Germany’ highlights the wide variety of options for sustainable travel when exploring Germany’s different regions and cultural heritage. And there will be a relaunch of the award-winning ‘FEEL GOOD’ sustainability campaign, which promotes tourism offerings that have been certified as sustainable. The GNTB will also continue its successful ‘’Embrace German Nature’ campaign.
The tourist board points to Inspektour’s Destination Brand Index for 2021, which surveyed people in seven European countries, revealing that 83% of travellers are keen on nature holidays, 74% like to visit castles, palaces, and cathedrals, and 71% are interested in culture.
As such, the GNTB says it will focus its brand communications more strongly on targeting sustainability-oriented lifestyle groups while analysing in key figures relevant to climate change mitigation for inbound tourism to Germany.
“Recent surveys confirm that international demand for climate-friendly travel is growing,” says Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB. “According to the GNTB Industry Expert Panel, the proportion of key accounts that regard Germany as a sustainable destination increased from 67% to 80% within a period of one year; 60% of key accounts are actively promoting Germany as a sustainable destination; (and) 58% of international travel industry reps expect demand in this segment to increase further over the next three years.”
At the same time, research by IPK International confirms a range of attitudes to sustainability among potential visitors:
• 80% of international travellers regard sustainability and climate/environmental protection as important or very important.
• To feel more inclined to book a sustainable trip, around 40% of those surveyed would require a broader, more affordable range of offers as well as more specific information.
• Looking at a possible levelling out of travel patterns, more than half of respondents would be willing to travel outside of the main season in principle.
• 43% could imagine foregoing a certain level of comfort and convenience in favour of greater sustainability, for example during the journey.
• At over 90%, the interest in combining a city break with a stay in a rural region, provided that appropriate offers are available, is strong among international travellers worldwide.
“We are actively setting the agenda for sustainable tourism through our theme-based campaigns. Together with our partners in the German travel industry we are working on extending our visitors’ length of stay by offering innovative products. We are also putting more emphasis on tourism that combines cities and rural regions, and on promoting the off season,” says Hedorfer.
The GNTB says it’s extensive marketing activities to promote sustainable inbound tourism to Germany are reaping rewards. For example, the proportion of inbound journeys to Germany that were made by train increased from 10.6% to 14.4% year-on-year in the period from January to October 2022.
Furthermore, the average length of stay of visitors who arrived by air rose from 8.3 days to 9.9 days in the first 10 months of 2022, compared with the same period in 2019.