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).

Fra 13. til 15. mai 2012 arrangerer det tyske turistbyrå (DZT) det 38. GTM Germany Travel Mart™ sammen med Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH og Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH. Andre viktige samarbeidspartnere er tyske Lufthansa samt Tysklands føderale statsbaner Deutsche Bahn AG. "GTM har stor internasjonal betydning som den største workshopen for Tyskland som turistland. Her møtes key accounts fra hele verden tyske aktører“, fremhever Petra Hedorfer, formann for styret i DZT. Særlig for de mellomstore aktørene innen turisme er denne plattformen eneste sjanse til å knytte kontakter til den internasjonale reiseindustrien og formidle aktuelle tilbud og programmer. I år har arrangementet for første gang mottoet "Green Event“, og DZT supplerer dette også med en rekke tiltak i forbindelse med sosiale medier. I årets GTM integrerer DZT for første gang en reportasje for sosiale medier med multimedieinnslag via Twitter-kontoen @gtm2012 samt på Storify. Dessuten kan GTMs pressekonferanse for første gang følges direkte på DZTs nettside underwww.germany.travel/gtmlive .

"Hotspots, Brandnew, Lifestyle“: Med en omfattende kampanje i sosiale medier, rettet mot ungdom, ønsker det tyske turistbyrå (DZT) å reklamere for Tyskland som turistland spesielt blant ungdom verden over, ved hjelp av sosiale nettverk. Kampanjen begynner med ITB 2013 i Berlin og strekker seg utover hele året samt 2014. Den planlagte kampanjen skal supplere temaet for 2013: "Unge reisende i Tyskland – Hotspots, Brandnew, Lifestyle“. Dermed tar ikke DZT bare hensyn til et reiselivssegment med et enormt økonomisk potensial, for det dreier seg også om en betraktelig stor målgruppe: For tiden er ca. en tredjedel av alle utenlandske besøkende i Tyskland under 39 år. "Unge reisende fra utlandet er fremtidens forretningsreisende og turister i Tyskland. Særlig med tanke på at innenlandsturismen stadig preges sterkere av en skiftende demografi, blir disse en stadig viktigere målgruppe”, sier Petra Hedorfer, formann for styret i DZT.

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.

Oslo / Leipzig, 9. mai 2012 – Fra 13. til 15. mai 2012 arrangerer Tysklands Nasjonale Turistkontor (DZT) i samarbeid med Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH og Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH for 38. gang messen Germany Travel Mart™ (GTM). Årets GTM-motto er ”Green Event”, hvor også Deutsche Lufthansa og Deutsche Bahn er viktige partnere.

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."

Oslo, 24. april 2012 - Reisemålet Tyskland har fortsatt medvind i seilene. Tyskland kunne skilte med 64 millioner overnattinger fra utenlandske gjester i 2011, og landet har sett en ytterligere vekst i opptakten til det nye året. "Også i begynnelsen av 2012 bekrefter Tyskland, med imponerende tall, sin posisjon som et av Europas mest populære reisemål", forklarer Ernst Burgbacher, medlem av Forbundsdagen og reiselivansvarlig.

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.

Frankfurt am Main, 10. april 2012 - Creative Germany er synonymet med det unge og kreative reiselandet Tyskland. "Tyskland er tradisjonelt kjent som et land diktere og tenkere kommer fra", sier styreleder Petra Hedorfer i DZT. "Men denne kreativiteten kjennetegner også i dag Tyskland; det settes nye trender, utvikles innovative ideer og skapes ny kunst hver dag. Tidligere sa man "made in Germany", nå heter det "created in Germany".

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.

Oslo, 23.03.2012 – Internasjonale gjester bruker rundt 15 milliarder euro på forretningsreiser i Tyskland. Dette viser en ny studie fra det tyske nærings- og teknologidepartement (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi)) og forbundet for den tyske turistindustrien (Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismuswirtschaft (BTW)). I denne studien blir det klart at Tyskland har blitt den mest populære destinasjonen for europeiske forretningsreisende.

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.

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).

Oslo, 27. februar 2012 – Til tross for den generell spente økonomiske situasjonen i verden, kan Tyskland fremvise en imponerende årsrapport for i fjor. Med hele 63,8 millioner utenlandske overnattinger slo Tyskland sin egen rekord fra året før, og Statistisches Bundesamt melder at det ble registrert rundt 6 prosent flere overnattinger fra utenlandske gjester i 2011 enn i 2010. Dermed lander Tyskland på andreplass etter Spania i konkurransen om å være det mest populære reisemålet for europeerne.