Thuringia is hosting the GNTB Travel Summit 2026

Frankfurt am Main, 2 September 2026 – Under the slogan ‘Heritage meets innovation in the Green Heart of Germany’, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is joining forces with Thüringer Tourismus GmbH to host the Thuringia Travel Summit in the state capital, Erfurt, from 20 to 23 September 2026. The GNTB expects around 60 international buyers from tour operators in the European source markets of Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Italy, France and Poland to attend the sales event.

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB: “With the Travel Summit format, we are placing additional focus on the international marketing of Germany as a travel destination. In doing so, we are concentrating on European source markets with a high volume of overnight stays and highlighting the strong attributes of the 'Travel Destination Germany' brand: Germany is the number one cultural destination and the number two nature destination for Europeans travelling worldwide. With its rich heritage in music, literature, historical sights, innovative experiences and unique natural landscapes, Thuringia offers a particularly extensive range of cultural and nature-based tourism attractions.”

Christoph Gösel, Managing Director of Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, explains: “We have a long-standing and trusting partnership with the German National Tourist Board in the international marketing of Thuringia. The fact that we are jointly hosting the Travel Summit 2026 in Thuringia gives us a unique opportunity to position our destination specifically with relevant tour operators. The excursions bring the region’s diversity to life, combining cultural heritage, nature, regional cuisine and innovative tourism offerings. It is crucial for us to capitalise on this attention to generate new sales momentum and attract additional international visitors, thereby boosting value creation for Thuringia’s tourism sector.”

The centrepiece of the Travel Summit is a workshop day on Tuesday at Peterskirche, a former monastery in Erfurt, where 40 tourism companies and organisations from Thuringia will present their offerings. The supporting programme showcases the diversity of new and innovative tourism concepts in the state, featuring full- and half-day excursions to historical sights and unique natural landscapes.

In 2025, the Federal Statistical Office recorded around 544,000 overnight stays by foreign visitors in Thuringia. This means that the number of international overnight stays has risen by 86 percent since reunification. The most important source markets for the federal state are Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.