Every year Berlin hosts one of the largest New Year's Eve celebrations in all of Europe, attended by over one million people. The focal point is the Brandenburg Gate, where midnight fireworks are centred. Germans toast the New Year with a glass of Sekt (German sparkling wine) or champagne. With more than one million guests, 500 journalists from all over the world and 350 national and international TV channels the New Year’s Eve Party in Berlin is one of the world’s largest events at the turn of the year.

By young people for young people: the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), in collaboration with the tour operator ruf and 'A&O Hotels und Hostels', carried out two surveys amongst German youngsters in order to find out about their favourite places in the part of Germany in which they live. These 'HotSpots' are now being incorporated into the GNTB's new Youth Travel campaign, which will be officially launched in March 2013 at the ITB trade fair in Berlin. The campaign focuses on a target group that currently accounts for around one third of all international travellers to Germany.

Inbound travel to Germany increased significantly again in the first nine months of 2012. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, the number of overnight stays by visitors from abroad from January to September 2012 rose by 8.6 per cent year on year. During this period, a total of almost 54 million overnight stays by international visitors were recorded in accommodation establishments with more than ten beds. The number of overnight stays by international visitors at camping sites also increased compared with the same period of 2011, advancing by 7 per cent to 3.9 million.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB), its long-standing partner Deutsche Bahn (DB) and 32 city partners have launched a Christmas app. Visitors to Destination Germany can use the app to discover the country’s Christmas markets and find out about opening hours, admission prices and highlights in the different towns and cities. Available now, the app is also packed with tips on Christmas shopping, typical customs and gifts, and on New Year’s Eve celebrations in Germany. The mobile app for Android http://bit.ly/UQXQgy and iOS devices http://bit.ly/SWliv4 is available in German, English, Dutch, French and Italian.

Destination Germany is a veritable paradise for nature lovers and offers unforgettable experiences in the great outdoors, with plenty of scope both for active pursuits and relaxation. The key marketing focus is on sustainability. In Germany’s nature reserves, efforts are made to use land in an environmentally sound and sustainable way, while in national parks the primary focus is on the conservation of ecosystems. Both are ideal places to interact with nature or engage in recreational, educational or research activities.

Have you ever wondered how it would be to walk through Sleeping Beauty’s original castle, sway to the tunes of The Pied Piper of Hamelyn or lose yourself with the Hansel and Gretel Duo. The fairytales of brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are among the best-known works of German literature. Their collection of 'Children's and Household Tales' made the Brothers Grimm famous around the world. 20 December 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the first edition of these popular stories.

The Belgian artist Henry van de Velde was an exponent of Classical Modernism who paved the way for the Bauhaus movement. His repertoire ranged from the architectural design of buildings and interiors to the design of jewellery and everyday objects. Numerous commissions brought van de Velde to Germany in 1900, where he left behind an impressive legacy. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is using the 150th anniversary of Henry van de Velde’s birth as an opportunity to highlight his work and to also promote the theme of architecture and design in Germany.

Top 100 is the name of the new app launched by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), which visitors to Germany can use to find out about the country’s top 100 tourist sights. At the beginning of the year, the GNTB conducted a survey among travellers in Destination Germany to find out what they considered to be their personal highlights. Tourist attractions in all 16 federal states are included in the Top 100. Overall, survey respondents selected a wide spectrum of cultural and natural highlights throughout Germany.

With a record breaking increase of 40% in Indian tourist arrivals in the year 2011, it is safe to say that the black forest region has fast emerged as one of the most popular regions in Germany among Indians. Owing to its breathtaking landscape, favourable geographical positioning and endless possibilities for its visitors, the Black Forest Region recorded a remarkable increase of 31.9% in visitor overnights by Indians in 2011 in comparison to 2010.

Business travel is a key economic factor for Germany. With this in mind, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has created a theme for 2012 entitled 'Germany: open for business – trade fairs and conventions'. The GNTB and the German Convention Bureau (GCB) are jointly promoting Germany's business travel segment in key markets such as China, the United States, Brazil and the UK. At the Meeting Experts Conference (Mexcon), which ended on 20 June in Berlin, more than 700 experts from the world of business, academia and politics discussed the future of the events industry. Mexcon is organised by the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC) and the GCB.

The GCB German Convention Bureau e.V. is delighted to announce the relaunch of its website www.germany-meetings.com. One of the major improvements is a greatly expanded range of available languages. Information will now be presented in Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch in addition to the standard German and English. Planners from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Brazil and Japan will soon also be able to find information in their own languages. When the redesign has been completed, the advantages and attractions of Germany as a destination for meetings and congresses will be presented online to the world in the languages of its twelve most important primary and future markets.

Germany's image as a destination for conferences and events is going from strength to strength. This is the firm belief of 91 per cent of service providers and 92 per cent of event organisers. 'Green meetings' are now an established business segment in Germany with excellent prospects for future growth. 44 per cent of event planners and 51 per cent of service providers believe that the importance of green meetings will continue to grow.

Spendings by international visitors to Germany on business travel including an overnight stay have reached €13.5 billion per year. Combined with the €14.6 billion spent by domestic business travellers, business-related travel now accounts for 24 per cent of total spending in the travel sector for trips including an overnight stay – according to a recent study funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and published jointly by the BMWi and the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW). Germany has become the most popular destination for business trips among European travellers. "The particular importance of international business travel for destination Germany is illustrated by the fact that 48 per cent of the total revenue in this segment is generated by travellers from abroad", explained Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

From 13 to 15 May 2012, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is hosting the 38th GTM Germany Travel Mart™ together with Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH and Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH. Other important GNTB partners are Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Deutsche Bahn AG. "The GTM is the biggest event of the year for Germany's inbound travel industry and is extremely important in terms of international marketing. This is where key accounts from all over the world can come together with German suppliers," explained Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

'Vibrant, fashionable, innovative'. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) plans to use a new broad-based social media campaign to promote Germany as a travel destination around the world, particularly among young travellers. The campaign will be launched at the ITB 2013 in Berlin and will continue throughout 2013 and 2014. The planned campaign will support the theme for 2013: 'Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative' which caters to a tourism segment offering vast economic potential. The target group is also huge, with current figures showing that about a third of all international visitors to Germany are under the age of 39. "Young people visiting from abroad today are Destination Germany's future holidaymakers and business travellers. They are becoming an ever more important target group, especially as domestic tourism will be increasingly affected by demographic change," said Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

A first for the GTM: for the entire duration of the 38th GTM Germany Travel Mart™, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is engaging in a range of social media activities. The content generated on the individual social media channels will paint a dynamic picture of events at the workshops and will be available online even after the GTM has finished. "This is part of our ongoing Web 2.0 strategy", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB. "As well as offering an authentic picture of what's going on at the trade fair, the multimedia content is also consolidating the impact of this year's Germany Travel Mart™ and extending its reach."

Heidelberg Castle is the favourite among international visitors to Destination Germany. This was the finding of a survey undertaken to find out Germany’s top 100 attractions. Number two on the list is Neuschwanstein Castle, followed at number three by Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Germany’s top 100 tourist attractions were identified in a recent survey carried out by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) in which it sought the opinions of people who have visited the country. Places of interest in eight different federal states can be found in the top ten. Overall, survey respondents selected a wide range of cultural and natural attractions throughout Germany. The UNESCO World Heritage sites are particularly popular, with 22 of the country’s 36 sites featuring on the list.

Spiritual travel is playing an important role in the marketing undertaken by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). The 500th anniversary of the Reformation marked by the Luther decade (2007 to 2017) is a key milestone in the promotion of this segment. The GNTB is using a wide range of marketing campaigns in defined key markets to promote the theme while working closely with Geschäftsstelle Luther 2017, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), regional tourism organisations and the main towns and cities in Germany with historical links to Luther. Their joint activities focus on the USA, Canada, Scandinavia, Italy, the Netherlands and South Korea where there is a strong bias towards Protestantism and Lutheranism.

The German National Tourist Board has been encouraging students from 126 universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland to take part in a competition they ran on Facebook from 2 November to 16 December. Flyers and posters have been used to draw attention to the campaign, together with a series of online measures including banners on websites for student unions and other student services, advertisements on Facebook and posts on relevant student society and association websites. As a result, up to 2.4 million UK and Irish students have been reached. The prize on offer was an eight-day trip to Germany with a friend. The lucky pair will post live daily reports of their experiences in Germany, upload photos and share information on their latest travel discoveries.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has a new representative office in Australia. Following a thorough appraisal of the bids received, the decision was taken to award the contract to GATE 7 in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. "Australia is an important market for Germany's incoming tourism industry", explained Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

In 2011 tourism to Germany witnessed an overwhelming increase from the Indian outbound market with 547480 overnights. This increase represents a strong growth of 20.1 % (January – December) over the same period last year. Germany establishes itself as a leading MICE and Leisure destination for Indians. The favorable image of brand Germany in India is testimony to the steady growth seen from the Indian travelers with India continuing to be one of the leading and fastest growing overseas source markets for destination Germany.

Germany is more popular than ever as a travel destination and achieved impressive figures last year despite the tough global economic situation. "In 2011, Destination Germany beat the record set in the previous year by notching up 63.8 million overnight stays by foreign visitors. What's more, there were 330.3 million overnight stays by Germans in Germany, making it the most popular destination for the domestic market.

International visitors spend almost €15 billion per year on business travel in Germany according to a recent study funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and published jointly by the BMWi and the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW).

Business travel is a key economic factor for tourism in Germany and accounts for about 30 per cent of all travel from abroad. Visits to trade fairs, meetings, incentives, conferences and events make up around half of all business trips to Germany.

Wine and food will be a key focus for the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) in 2012. The GNTB and the German Wine Institute (DWI) have teamed up with strategic partners Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH, Tourismus Marketing GmbH Baden-Württemberg (TMBW) and Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH as well as other regional partners to promote the theme 'Discover the taste of Germany' around the world.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is opening a new sales and marketing agency in Belgrade this month, from where it will provide coverage for the markets in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. This move is in response to the increasing volume of travel from the Balkans to Germany.

This year, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) will focus on three major cultural events in its global press and PR activities: 800 years of Thomana, dOCUMENTA (13) and the 300th anniversary of Frederick the Great's birth. These highlights will enable Germany to once again showcase itself as a land of art and culture.

Next year, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) will be training the spotlight on youth travel in its global sales and marketing activities. The 'Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative' theme caters to a tourism segment offering vast economic potential. The target group is also huge, with current figures showing that about a third of all international visitors to Germany are under the age of 34.

The partnership concept of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has been strengthened by two new additions. The GNTB's Board of Directors voted unanimously to add visitBerlin (Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH) and IHB Travel GmbH as partners. "I am delighted that, in visitBerlin and IHB Travel, we now have two further strong advocates of tourism in Germany at our side", said Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB. "Our proven public-private partnership concept is a perfect combination of expertise and resources, ensuring continual innovation in the marketing of Destination Germany."

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has announced that the new multilingual website promoting Destination Germany has won one of its Gold Awards in 2012. This is in recognition of the high standards found throughout the interactive site, which is available in 26 languages — including Chinese, Japanese and Korean. "The completely new navigation system and architecture mean the website can be accessed from all the latest mobile end devices", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

Germany is becoming increasingly important as a destination for Chinese travellers. "In 2011, we recorded more than 1.3 million overnight stays by Chinese visitors. This represents a year-on-year increase of 21 per cent and surpasses the record figures we achieved in 2010. According to the Federal Foreign Office, we are the third biggest issuer of foreign visas in China", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

Countless travel guides and surveys provide information about the most popular attractions in Germany. But now, in its own survey, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is turning directly to the people who have already visited the country in order to find the top 100 must-see attractions in Destination Germany. The results are being incorporated into a special app which will be available from summer 2012 in English and German for Apple and Android devices.

Germany is more popular than ever as a travel destination and achieved impressive figures last year despite the tough global economic situation. "In 2011, Destination Germany beat the record set in the previous year by notching up 63.8 million overnight stays by foreign visitors. What's more, there were 330.3 million overnight stays by Germans in Germany, making it the most popular destination for German people.

"By getting more involved in social media, we expect to reach new target groups and to raise the volume of overnight stays – particularly among younger travellers", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). In 2011, the GNTB began to step up its social media activities in China, the world's biggest internet market with around 500 million people online. The primary communication tool is Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. By the beginning of 2012, the GNTB had more than 100,000 followers, making this one of the most attractive and actively used platforms for promoting Destination Germany. Regular posts about events, offers, culture and shopping strengthen interaction with consumers and send out a positive message about Germany as a travel destination. The aim of using social networks such as Weibo is also to drive more traffic to the GNTB website.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has announced several personnel changes in its foreign representative offices for the beginning of the year. On 1 January 2012, Alla Belikova became the new head of the GNTB sales and marketing agency in Russia. Belikova is the owner and managing director of Moscow-based sales and marketing agency Pro-Mark GmbH and works as a representative of the hotel industry in Germany and Russia. Until 2010, Belikova was the Eastern Europe area manager for the Kempinski hotel group in Moscow and has a wide range of contacts in the Russian tourism and hotel industry.

Destination Germany continues to post excellent results for the final months of 2011, reporting growth from its key source markets. Despite the tense global economic situation, and with only December's figures to come, the German travel industry is on course to finish the year on a high. In November, the German Federal Statistical Office recorded a 6 per cent year-on-year increase in the volume of overnight stays made by international guests. October was similarly successful and between January and November 2011, there were almost 59.5 million overnight stays by visitors to Germany, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year. "There are clear indications that we will achieve our growth forecast for the full year. The results for November continue the trend for the year as a whole, in which we have continually exceeded the figures from the record year of 2010", said Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

Five tourism trade fairs feature in the January programme for the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). The GNTB exhibits at trade fairs around the world in order to build on the positive image of Destination Germany and to help medium-sized businesses to market their tourism products to an international audience. "Major travel fairs are an important sales channel and continue to be of great benefit to us, even in the age of online marketing", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

In 2012, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is putting the focus on the wines, the culture and the cuisine of Destination Germany. To this end, it has signed a cooperation agreement with the German Wine Institute, and linked up with Rheinland Pfalz Tourismus GmbH as a regional partner. Under the banner 'Discover the taste of Germany', the GNTB, the German Wine Institute and their regional partners are promoting Germany around the world through the theme 'Wine heritage and nature – fine wine and good times'. The aim is to build on Germany's image as an outstanding travel destination for fine food and drink and to encourage more people to visit its fantastic wine regions.

Frankfurt am Main / Berlin, 12 January 2012 – The health megatrend – a product of demographic change, changing lifestyles and a new focus on health – looks set to generate unprecedented demand for travel to Germany in the coming decades. This is confirmed by an online survey carried out by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), in which 300 or so travel experts from twelve different countries were asked to give their views. Nearly 40 per cent of them predicted that the volume of healthoriented travel will rise over the next 20 years. According to Euromonitor, nature and medical tourism will be the major growth areas for the travel industry up to 2015, with annual increases of 6.8 and 5.5 per cent respectively. In Germany, the number of purely health-motivated trips more than doubled between 2009 and 2010. The World Travel Monitor indicates that 341,000 Europeans visited Germany exclusively for health reasons in 2010 –less than half the figure for the previous year (2009:157,000).

Travel to Germany, January to October 2011
The tough global economic situation is not hampering the upturn in Germany's incoming tourism industry. Quite the opposite: Germany was once again an extremely popular global travel destination in October 2011. The German Federal Statistical Office registered 5.9 per cent more overnight stays by international visitors than in October 2010. Between January and October 2011, there were almost 55.4 million overnight stays by visitors to Germany, which represents an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year. "Since the start of the year, we have continually exceeded the figures from the record year of 2010", said Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). "This indicates that we will achieve our growth forecast of 4 per cent for visitors from Germany and abroad by the end of the year."