With the gradual opening of tourism in Germany and the relaxation of entry regulations, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is launching three campaigns designed to intensify brand communication and kickstart interest in Germany as a travel destination this year.
The “SeeYouSoon” campaigns focus on city life, food, and wellness/relaxation, with the latter two first off the mark, starting this month and July.
German.Local.Culture.
Germany’s leading tourism segment is city trips, according to the GNTB, and the “German.Local.Culture.” campaign is designed to address the increased desire of travellers for authenticity and traditions and gives insights into German customs from handicrafts to local and regionally typical dishes. Potential vacationers will be invited to access information in the subject areas of Craft, Taste, Flair, and Green, as well as outdoor activities, while the campaign-related microsite will serve as a central inspiration and information hub, including detailing health and safety measures.
GNTB content will be supplemented through marketing collaborations with local partners, including the Bremer Touristik-Zentrale, the German Wine Institute, Romantic Rhine Tourism, and Saxony-Anhalt and Stuttgart Marketing.
Feel Good
Highlighting Germany’s highly regarded reputation for sustainability, the GNTB’s “Feel Good” campaign will include new content, with GNTB CEO Petra Hedorfer explaining, “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. With “Feel Good,” we communicate certified offers on an international level in a targeted manner.”
The inspirations and offers compiled on a microsite are selected by the GNTB in cooperation with the regional marketing organizations and external sustainability experts.
German.Spa.Tradition.
With the “German.Spa.Tradition” campaign, the GNTO is promoting a key travel motivator, “wellness and relaxation,” positioning Germany as a health destination with high quality standards and a long tradition. The marketing campaign highlights, among other aspects, Sebastian Kneipp’s 200th anniversary and his holistic health philosophy, which is still in use today in medical-therapeutic applications and wellness offers.
Hedorfer says: “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 8% of the total overnight stays. At the same time, as a result of the pandemic, there is great interest in wellness and health vacations.”
North Rhine-Westphalia
Meanwhile, the region of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is marking two cultural landmarks in 2021 with events and festivities around the 100th birthday of Joseph Beuys, as well as the continuation of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig von Beethoven.
Joseph Beuys
The influential artist, founder of the Fluxus movement, would have turned 100 on May 12 and NWR is celebrating the anniversary by shining the spotlight on the man and artist, his ideas and works. About 20 museums and cultural institutions in the state are using the anniversary as an opportunity to honour, rediscover, and critically reflect on the artist’s international traces. Together with a wide variety of events, exhibitions, and performances, they make up the “beuys 2021. 100 years of joseph beuys” anniversary program.
In addition to these current events, North Rhine-Westphalia offers many original Beuys locations, many of which can be explored across the 300-km “Beuys & Bike” cycling route in NRW, which links locations that played important roles in the artist’s life and work, such as his birthplace, first studio, important works, plus museums and galleries. Locations include Bedburg-Hau, Kleve, Duisburg, Krefeld, Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, Neuss, and Leverkusen.
Beethoven
December 2020 marked the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth with the great composer’s native city of Bonn and many other locations extending their celebrations until September 2021.
About 300 projects, including concerts, workshops, and plays, are on the agenda under the motto of “Rediscovering Beethoven.” In Bonn, the building where he was born, for example, is going to host a Beethoven week in May, while August and September will see Beethoven’s Fifth meeting urban street culture, and a new Beethoven tour is planned to lead visitors through the city and its surroundings.
Tourismus NRW is using the extended anniversary festivities as an opportunity for focusing on exceptional concert venues as part of its “Listen, Baby!” campaign and this summer will host present special musical events, pending the further easing of pandemic restrictions.
Other cultural highlights in North Rhine-Westphalia this year include: “Warhol Now” at Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, the Leonardo da Vinci show at the Dalheim monastery in Paderborn, and the Dürer exhibition of the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen.