The German National Tourist Board has launched a campaign to propagate its vision of increasing the sustainability of German tourism.
The campaign launch took place at the Arabian Travel Market 2023 event on Monday where global GCC travel experts were in attendance.
With a campaign slogan that says, “Germany, simply inspiring,” the German National Tourist Board intends to undertake endeavors that increase the sustainability of Germany’s tourism sector such as showcasing natural landscapes and activity holidays, promoting German cultural heritage and the country’s World Heritage sites, spotlighting traditions and customs of Germany’s rural areas, and helping visitors to enjoy their vacations in the country in an environmentally friendly way.
Germany has 51 UNESCO World Heritage sites and over 6,000 museums which offer a wide range of exciting places of cultural and historical importance for tourists to experience.
Speaking at the event, Yamina Sofo, director at the German National Tourist GCC Office (a partner of the German National Tourist Board) said, “We aim to make a meaningful contribution toward climate change mitigation, supporting Germany’s commitment to net-zero, as well as driving increasing numbers of environmentally aware, inbound GCC tourists.
“We want to present Germany as an all-year-round destination that is not only sustainable but diverse, accessible, inclusive, resilient, and viable for the future,” she said.
The GCC region recently became Germany’s top-performing inbound source market in Asia and Australasia, with over 404,707 GCC overnight visitors in 2022 — an increase of 117.6 percent from 2021 figures.
“These figures confirm that Germany continues to be a preferred tourism destination for GCC visitors, and unspoiled nature and careful use of resources are clearly becoming increasingly important to them. We also want to encourage longer stays in order to reduce the carbon footprint per travel day,” Sofo commented.
There are over 350 spa and health resorts in Germany, and the GNTB intends to focus on increasing the sustainability of German health tourism by preserving traditional treatment methods and location-specific treatments and remedies.
This focus is projected to increase regional prosperity in Germany and serve as an example of sustainable energy management.
About a third of Germany’s land area is under special government protection as a nature park or national park. The country has over 200,000 kilometers of walking trails and 70,000 kilometers of long-distance cycle routes.
The German National Tourist Board’s focus on sustainability aligns with the official ATM 2023 theme tagged “Working Towards Net Zero” and matches an increasing global interest in low-impact tourism, which involves supporting climate goals and making tourism more environment-friendly.
The rise of interest in traditional lifestyles in rural Germany has also helped boost Germany’s image as a sustainable travel destination.
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