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."

Together with financial service provider Global Blue, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is organising a press tour for a Chinese television team from 10 to 18 December 2011. It focuses on Germany as an attractive shopping and cultural destination for Chinese visitors. During the tour from Frankfurt to Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich, a film will be shown about the impressive variety of shopping opportunities and wide-ranging cultural attractions in Germany.

Germany has been voted ‘Best International Youth Destination’ at this year’s British Youth Travel Awards for its dedication and success in promoting the destination to the British youth market. Every year, the awards – organised by The British Educational Travel Association (BETA) – acknowledge the high achievers in youth, student and educational travel, recognising the achievements of outstanding organisations and individuals operating within the youth travel market.

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) today celebrated the outstanding editorial coverage on Travel Destination Germany, when it announced the winners of this year’s Germany Travel Writers’ Awards. More than 50 guests, including journalists and travel writers, attended the awards ceremony at Trinity House in London, where the accolades were presented.

The Travel Destination Germany – represented by the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) – has been nominated as a finalist in the ‘Best International Youth Destination’ category of the 2011 British Youth Travel Awards. Organised by The British Educational Travel Association (BETA), the annual awards recognize and raise the profile of the work and individual successes of organisations engaged in youth, student and educational travel – to, from and within the UK.

Germany continues to gain in popularity with holidaymakers from around the world in 2011. In light of the global economic situation, this is a particularly impressive achievement. The volume of international visitors staying overnight in Germany between January and August rose by 6 per cent year on year according to preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office. The total number of international overnight stays made in Germany came to 43.5 million, 2.3 million more than were recorded in the same period in 2010.

Continuous growth despite the crisis: Germany is becoming an increasingly popular destination for travellers from all over the world, even at a time of economic difficulties. In September 2011 it achieved its best result since accommodation sta-tistics started to be collected after the country's reunification.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is marking its appearance with a brand-new digital media platform. Having relaunched its www.germany.travel website inApril, the GNTB is investing in an innovative, forward-looking sales channel for Destination Germany. "We have brought our website up to global standards with an entirely new design and user navigation, creating the leading international portal for travel to Germany in our capacity as the umbrella organisation for Destination Germany", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is marking its appearance with a brand-new digital media platform. Having relaunched its www.germany.travel website in April, the GNTB is investing in an innovative, forward-looking sales channel for Destination Germany. "We have brought our website up to global standards with an entirely new design and user navigation, creating the leading international portal for travel to Germany in our capacity as the umbrella organisation for Destination Germany", says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.