#SeeYouSoon: Three new campaigns kickstart travel to Germany

With the gradual opening of tourism and cultural businesses in the German federal states and the relaxation of entry regulations, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is launching three campaigns to intensify brand communication for Germany as a travel destination.

The three campaigns that will be launched internationally in 2021 will inspire potential travellers to spend their next vacation in Germany. 

Despite massive tourism losses in 2020, city trips remained by far the leading segment in Germany incoming from Europe with 5.2 million trips.

At the same time, nature and recreation became more important with a greater demand for outdoor activities, and increased interest in health and wellness topics as well as sustainable holidays.

German.Local.Culture.

According to studies by the European Travel Commission (ETC) from February 2021, City Life Enthusiasts are the largest group with 33.9 percent who want to be on the road again within the next six months. 

At the same time, outdoor activities will also play a major role in the second summer of the pandemic. 

With the German.Local.Culture. campaign we provide a wide range of information. 

"The service providers in Germany ensure the protection of travellers with numerous highly professional measures from low-contact check-in to hotel room disinfection and air purification, so that we can look to the restart of incoming tourism with confidence," said Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the Executive Board of the GNTB.

The German.Local.Culture. campaign addresses the increased longing of travellers for authenticity and traditions and gives insights into lived German customs from handicrafts to local and regionally typical dishes. 

Potential vacationers can find travel information in the subject areas of Craft, Taste, Flair and Green. The campaign-related microsite serves as a central inspiration and information hub.

The GNTB supplements its campaign content through marketing collaborations with partners in German tourism.

German.Local.Culture. Premium Partners include the Bremer Touristik-Zentrale, the German Wine Institute, Romantic Rhine Tourism, the Investment and Marketing Company Saxony-Anhalt and Stuttgart Marketing.

Feel Good

The GNTB also relies on Germany's good reputation for sustainability: Germany is among the top five worldwide in the UNWTO's 2020 SDG index. 

The GNTB's Feel Good sustainability campaign, which has been expanded to include new content, is linked to this.

“In many of our source markets, awareness of sustainability has increased significantly. Corona has now become the amplifier of a trend that has been emerging for a long time. This is an opportunity for Germany as a travel destination. Service providers have developed offers along the entire value chain for many years with great professionalism and are continuously expanding them," Hedorfer said. "With Feel Good, we communicate certified offers on an international level in a targeted manner.” 

The inspirations and offers compiled on a microsite are selected by the GNTB in cooperation with the regional marketing organizations and external sustainability experts.

German.Spa.Tradition 

With the German.Spa.Tradition campaign, the GNTO is promoting the important travel motivation “wellness and relaxation” highlighted by the ETC study. 

It positions Germany as a wellness and health destination with high quality standards and a long tradition. The German.Spa.Tradition. marketing campaign highlights, among other aspects, Sebastian Kneipp's 200th anniversary and his holistic health philosophy, which is still effective today in medical-therapeutic applications and wellness offers.

“The more than 350 rated spa and medicinal baths are of great importance for Germany as a travel destination. In the pre-Corona period of 2019, Germany recorded 7.2 million international overnight stays in healing and health resorts, which corresponds to eight percent of the total overnight stays," said Hedorfer. "At the same time, as a result of the pandemic, there is great interest in wellness and health vacations.”

The campaigns German.Spa.Tradition. and Feel Good will start in June and July 2021.

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