Post-coronavirus – opportunities for inbound tourism

In the coming weeks, more and more tourism-related businesses in Germany, including restaurants, cafés and leisure facilities, will be allowed to reopen. This will also set in train a gradual revival of inbound tourism, but one thing is clear: for the time being, the entire tourism sector will have to live and work ‘with coronavirus’.

In my view, post-coronavirus does not mean a return to the habits that defined our everyday life at the start of this year; it means a new normal with limitations, conditions and rules. Every tourism service provider and every company will have to undergo checks to ensure that is able to safeguard the safety of its customers.

This means that all of the tourism products in Germany that we market abroad must take account of what we have learned during the coronavirus crisis and how this affects what we will need to do in future.

Post-coronavirus – opportunities for inbound tourism

A new normal also means opportunities. After all, it is also about the changing expectations and values of customers, a focus on quality and people’s need to feel safe.

By adjusting our products and product communications in line with these requirements at an early stage, and ensuring that customers are at the centre of all that we do, we can help to determine whether coronavirus leads to a long-term crisis or becomes the catalyst for a new level of quality.

In my last post, I outlined the particular challenges facing the business travel and city break segments. Germany is exposed to significant competition in these areas, both within Europe and globally, and the potential losses to inbound tourism in Germany are considerable.

Today, I will be looking at opportunities for the nature and leisure segment, which lies at the heart of the Destination Germany brand, and at how COVID-19 might influence the overarching theme of sustainability.

Diverse, unspoilt and inviting – opportunities for areas of natural beauty

Around a third of mainland Germany’s land area is under special protection in more than 130 national parks, biosphere reserves and nature parks. The 200,000 kilometres of marked walking trails and 70,000 kilometres of long-distance cycle routes are just some of the more prominent examples of the endless possibilities for enjoying an action-packed active holiday in Germany’s great outdoors. Then there are the on-trend sports and the countless innovative ideas of the tourism players in the holiday regions.

On the demand side, the biggest source markets for inbound tourism to Germany show an above-average level of interest in active holidays and holidays in the heart of nature. According to IPK International, the market share for nature holidays and active holidays in Germany among travellers from Europe as a whole is 17 per cent, from the Netherlands 28 per cent, from Switzerland 23 per cent, and from Poland almost 30 per cent.

The enforced break presents an opportunity for sustainability

Even before the start of the coronavirus crisis, we were able to position Destination Germany very well in terms of sustainability. For example, Germany is consistently listed among the top ten in the SDG Index, which looks at how 193 UN member states meet the sustainable development goals defined by the 2015 UN Sustainability Summit. Four German cities are among the top 20 in the Sustainable Cities Index created by Arcadis, the leading global design & consultancy firm for natural and built assets. TourCert lists 13 certified sustainable destinations in Germany, the interactive map on www.germany.travel currently includes over 1,000 certified sustainable accommodation providers and places to eat and drink, and 21 German towns and cities have joined the global Cittaslow movement. The list goes on and on.

In this context, I am particularly interested in whether these successes can be maintained in the face of coronavirus, and whether there might even be opportunities here. I firmly believe that the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

For a brief overview of sustainability and Germany’s inbound tourism industry, please see the special edition of our stakeholder magazine DZT 360°, which is available online(PDF, 8.3 MB). I can also recommend a look at the many best practice case studies that our partners and the 16 regional marketing organisations have contributed.

In their dwif_Corona MindMap, the experts at dwif Consulting take a look at the medium to long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on destination management. The study explores foreseeable, severe negative consequences and open issues, and the question of whether any good can come out of the crisis. Along with many other aspects, the mind map also analyses the topic of sustainability. The authors are wary of a sudden release of pent-up customer demand, which could lead to overtourism. The question of whether hygiene and social distancing aspects will have an impact on the use of public transport remains open. But the enforced break does have some positives for flora and fauna. It also raises awareness and offers new perspectives on visitor attractions and nature. Meanwhile, solidarity initiatives with companies help to strengthen customer relations. The mind map also sees opportunities in the increased loyalty of employees, who have been kept on by their employer during a time of crisis. The crisis could also spark new ideas for transport and for managing the flow of visitors. Overall, the authors predict a new ‘nature boom’ and increased demand for outdoor pursuits and holidays in the heart of nature.

The trend for holidays closer to home presents opportunities for rural areas

I believe that a revival of inbound tourism will initially be led by independent travellers from Europe, in particular. One of the reasons for this is that the car is the easy transport option when it comes to social distancing. But while it will require a lot more effort to implement the necessary hygiene and social distancing measures on public transport, especially in cross-border traffic, sustainability aspects will continue to have a growing influence on the modal split in transport in the future. Our partnership with Deutsche Bahn and the major environmental organisations on Destination nature has been promoting environmentally sustainable travel by rail since 2001.

Added to this is the dramatic slump in air traffic, from which there will be no full recovery any time soon. As Dirk Hoke, president of the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI), explained this week: “We don’t expect air traffic to return to 2019 levels until late 2022 or early 2023”.

For inbound tourism, this means that independent travellers from neighbouring countries are the most likely to be allowed to travel to Germany again, provided that infection rates stabilise and bilateral agreements or even Europe-wide regulations are in place. Almost 45 per cent of all international overnight stays in Germany were made by visitors from neighbouring countries, and around half of European travellers to Germany have taken the car to get here. In terms of holiday planning, taking the car automatically extends the possibilities beyond the radius of local public transport – this presents opportunities for holiday destinations away from the metropolitan regions.

The new normal is an opportunity for ‘hidden champions’

Today, futurologists, strategy consultants, political and economic experts, industry insiders and lateral thinkers of all stripes are exploring what the ‘new normal’ could look like from a wide range of perspectives.

I am following this with great interest, and time and again I discover common ground between the various theories from which shared visions emerge. Zukunftsinstitut, for example, has identified ‘trends deep within society towards post-growth, a ‘we culture’, glocalisation and post-individualism…’. And in a podcast by Gabor Steingart, futurologist and government adviser Dr Daniel Dettling declares ‘the era of mindful glocalisation… as a response to the growing demand for a sense of home and community’.

In relation to inbound tourism, I believe there is a tailwind for certain aspects that have not always been at the forefront of public interest in the past. Nevertheless, we have analysed these ‘hidden champions’, identified them as drivers of opportunity and, in recent years, repeatedly explored them in our themed marketing: rural areas, sustainability, traditions and customs, regionality and seasonality, and food and drink.

In my opinion, it is important to present products and packages in a contemporary and even more memorable manner to potential travellers to Germany, and this is precisely where our open-data project is able to offer new opportunities.

Campaign themes – exploiting opportunities

I firmly believe that our portfolio of products for travel to Germany, above and beyond the established city breaks and cultural trips for domestic and international travellers, is wide-ranging, high-quality and fully compatible with the currently foreseeable demands of post-coronavirus tourism.

The key thing will be to communicate the strengths of these products in a way that raises our profile in the markets and establishes a strong and robust positioning.

We will be planning our campaigns for this year and next within the context of the current coronavirus crisis. In the second half of 2020, we will launch a #WanderlustGermany nature campaign in our European source markets that will highlight the many facets of Germany’s holiday regions. At this point, I would like to give special thanks to our partners from the German Ramblers’ Association and the German Cyclists’ Federation (ADFC) for their involvement.

We believe we are following the right path with the campaigns we have planned for 2021. The German.Spa.Tradition campaign will focus on the unparalleled variety offered by the 350 certified spa and health resorts as centres of excellence for health. Besides scenic beauty and clean air, visitors to these places can enjoy a wide range of leisure activities, high-quality art and cultural offerings, a broad array of delicious and healthy diet options, and superb infrastructure. As part of the campaign, we will be marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sebastian Kneipp, whose form of hydrotherapy spread beyond his home in Bavaria and became popular around the world. We will be working with the German Spa Association (DHV) on this campaign. In a recent press release, Brigitte Goertz-Meissner, President of both the Board of Directors of the German National Tourist Board and of the DHV, underlined the importance of spas and health resorts as an integral part of the healthcare industry,

The planned German.Local.Culture image campaign is intended to inspire travellers to discover the lesser-known gems among Germany’s towns and cities. Promoting Germany’s most charming small towns will also help to market the country’s rural regions.

With an easing of the lockdown within sight, the signs are promising for Germany’s inbound tourism industry. Let’s work together and grasp this opportunity.

Stay safe and stay in touch.

Until next week.

Petra Hedorfer