With excitement mounting ahead of the Champions League Final at Wembley on 25th May, the spotlight will be turned on the two clubs taking part: Borussia Dortmund und Bayern Munich and the cities these teams call home. Dortmund, the ‘steel city’ and the largest in the Ruhrgebiet, with its foundations built on coal and industry, nowadays renowned as a leading location for innovation and technology. Munich, state capital of Bavaria (widely known for its lakes, mountains and beer gardens), but also its superb city-centre art collections and the home of BMW.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) has launched ‘Germany Rocks’ – a new multimedia Music Festival campaign which offers the chance to win tickets to some of Germany’s biggest music festivals this year. The campaign is run in conjunction with the Hamburg Tourist Board and Lufthansa and goes live today with immediate effect until end August.

Foreign tourists have voted Neuschwanstein Castle the best place to visit in Germany. Number two on the list is Europa-Park, followed at number three by Cologne Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) carried out the poll - the second of its kind - to find out which of Germany's many sights and places of interest were the most popular among foreign tourists.

Destination Germany is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and is, according to IPK International 2013, the number one cultural travel destination for Europeans. It was ranked fifth out of 50 nations worldwide as a cultural destination in the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index. Prominent among Germany's many cultural treasures are the 37 natural and cultural heritage sites that have been recognised by UNESCO.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) will be communicating via different social media channels at the 30th GTM Germany Travel Mart in Stuttgart between the 5th and 7th May – live and before the most important event for the travel destination Germany. Amongst the channels will be Twitter, Foursquare and Storify.

A photo of Neuschwanstein castle in winter is the winner of the German National Tourist Board’s (GNTB) ‘Instagram Challenge’, part of the GNTB’s social media campaign "Youth HotSpots in Germany - Share the moment", which was launched in March at the ITB in Berlin. Second place was awarded to a photograph of the Allianz Arena in Munich and in third place an image of Heidelberg in Winter.

Members of the media and VIPs were welcomed on board the German Navy’s training vessel the ‘Gorch Fock’ yesterday, as guests of the German Embassy and the German National Tourist Office (GNTO). The ship is currently conducting a training tour for naval cadets and will be berthed at the South Quay in the West India Docks in London until Thursday, 2 May 2013.

Whether you’re wild about Wagner, believe in the Brothers Grimm or find the cities so stylish, visitors from the UK and Ireland are obviously finding plenty to persuade them that Germany is the place to be: latest statistics for February show a rise of 12.5% in visitor numbers from the UK to Germany, compared to the same period for 2012. Ireland offers a similarly positive upward trend: an increase of almost 6% on 2012.

UK travel, lifestyle and arts media attended an exclusive lunch today to discover more about Brandenburg, the area that is literally, ‘all around Berlin’. Hosted by the tourism organisation for Brandenburg, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg and the city of Potsdam, together with the German National Tourist Office (GNTO), the event showcased the richness and sheer diversity of the Brandenburg region, including events and activities within the arts, outdoor living and some of the most significant points in European history.

Germany is one of the world’s ‘hotspots’ for travel and tourism: the latest statistics reveal a 3.7% rise in the number of Irish visitors Germany in January 2013, compared to the same period for 2012. Overall, the German Federal Statistical Office recorded in excess of 68.8 million overnight stays for 2012, an increase of around 8% on the previous year.

Germany is one of the world’s ‘hotspots’ for travel and tourism: the latest statistics reveal a 7.3% rise in the number of Brits visiting Germany in January 2013, compared to the same period for 2012. Overall, the German Federal Statistical Office recorded in excess of 68.8 million overnight stays for 2012, an increase of around 8 per cent on the previous year.

Destination Germany is home to a wealth of cultural and natural treasures. Particularly popular are its 37 UNESCO World Heritage sites. They represent a major travel incentive for international visitors and have helped to make Germany the most popular cultural travel destination among Europeans (source: IPK International).

Germany has become an increasingly popular destination for young people over the past few years. That is why the worldwide sales and marketing activities of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) are focusing on youth travel in 2013. The theme ‘Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative’ caters to a huge tourism segment offering vast economic potential.

Destination Germany is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and is, according to IPK International, the number one cultural travel destination for Europeans. Prominent among Germany’s many cultural treasures are the 37 natural and cultural heritage sites that have been recognised by UNESCO.

At the 2013 Green Meetings & Events conference organised by the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC), Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) announced the latest results for inbound tourism in Germany.

Destination Germany remains on course for success, with excellent growth in the volume of overnight stays by international visitors providing much of the momentum. In 2012 the German Federal Statistical Office recorded in excess of 68.8 million overnight stays by visitors from abroad in accommodation establishments with ten or more beds, an increase of 8.1 per cent on the previous year.

Destination Germany is becoming increasingly popular with international visitors. “In the last three years tourism in Germany has grown at a faster rate than the global and European average, and the country has continued to strengthen its position as one of the most popular travel destinations,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is launching a broad-ranging social media campaign entitled ‘Youth HotSpots in Germany – Share the moment.’ at the 2013 ITB in Berlin as part of its ‘Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative’ theme. The campaign is designed so that the GNTB can reach out to young people through the most appropriate means for this target group and encourage them to return to Germany again and again.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) has launched a new “Webshop” service on its website, for consumers wishing to receive travel brochures and information by post - just as the latest statistics for Jan-Dec 2012 show a healthy 5.7% rise in the number of UK visitors to Germany on the previous year.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has launched a new website for the bicentenary of Richard Wagner’s birth. Visitors with an interest in culture can now find information on special events during the anniversary year and on Wagner’s life and work at www.germany.travel/wagner. Entitled ‘Music is the language of passion’, the new microsite is available in German and English and features an interactive map to help travellers follow in the footsteps of Wagner. The 13 towns and cities in Germany most closely associated with Wagner’s life and legacy are marked on the map and profiled in the context of the great composer. “Richard Wagner is one of Germany’s most famous composers and his music delights audiences all over the world. The new Wagner website gives travellers a compelling insight into the composer’s life and provides information on a whole host of events marking the anniversary year. This makes the Wagner microsite an invaluable tool for planning a tour of the places where Wagner lived and worked,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) today hosted a product workshop and round table discussion to establish the requirements for promoting accessibility travel from the UK to Germany – a concept called Barrier Free Travel.

Die Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus (DZT) nimmt das 300. Krönungsjubiläum und die Personalunion der Kurfürsten bzw. Könige von Hannover, Großbritannien und Irland im Jahr 2014 zum Anlass, den Gästen aus Großbritannien das „königliche Erbe“ in Deutschland zu präsentieren. Die Kurfürsten von Hannover waren eng mit dem britischen Königshaus verbunden – Georg I. regierte ab 1714 als König von England und Irland und begründete als britischer Monarch die Königsdynastie des „House of Hannover“. Diese historische Verbindung nimmt die DZT zum Anlass, gemeinsam mit Partnern aus Deutschland und Großbritannien eine „Königsroute“ quer durch Deutschland entwickeln. Diese umfasst themenrelevante Sehenswürdigkeiten, Gärten und Paläste, die ausländische Gäste auf die königlichen Spuren im Reiseland Deutschland führen.

Competition was keen at an interactive workshop and quiz last night, hosted by the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) and tourism for North Rhine-Westphalia. Twelve teams of five contestants, gathered from the UK tourism industry included tour operators, travel journalists and front line agents who all vied to demonstrate their extensive knowledge of North Rhine-Westphalia and its varied attractions.