The German tourist board is targeting agents as part of its strategy to help visitor numbers from the UK and Ireland to reach pre-pandemic levels by next year.
The British and Irish market accounted for almost 3.2 million touristic overnight stays in Germany last year (January-October).
Numbers for the full year are expected to be higher than 2021 thanks to the fact that most Christmas markets have been open for visitors again.
Harald Henning, the new UK and Ireland head of the German National Tourist Office, said: “We expect visitor number to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024 – we can already see that visitor numbers have recovered significantly over the last year.
“The UK and Ireland are fourth largest market in terms of volume for us – hopefully we will make it to the top three in the next couple of years.”
Henning took over from Beatrix Haun in January, as she has left the tourism board after more than 40 years.
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He was deputy director of the GNTO London for nine years in the 1990s before being appointed as director of the GNTO office in Madrid (Spain) and then Zurich (Switzerland).
“I am excited to be returning to London and to continue our work in collaboration with our trade, media and marketing partners to increase incoming visitor numbers now that the tourism industry is recovering,” he said.
“I studied and lived in London for almost 10 years – I love the city and the British culture so it was a great opportunity to come back.”
The GNTO team in London has seven staff, working on marketing, media relations, PR and social media.
They promote Germany to the trade through their website, a dedicated trade newsletter, webinars and live events in the UK and Ireland.
The annual Germany Travel Mart (GTM) features a B2B workshop enabling agents to network with the German tourism trade, and this year it will be in Essen (April 16-18).
Henning is also planning training events and online resources to support the UK trade.
“Planning for joint marketing campaigns with trade partners is ongoing – we are always keen to work with our UK and Irish trade partners to promote Destination Germany collaboratively,” he added.
“We haven’t done many fam trips over the last few years but are discussing re-introducing them post pandemic…we will be able to share more information in a few months’ time.”
He said tailored and specialist holidays, ranging from cultural tours to student travel, are generally booked via an agent or operator as they can deal better than consumers with more complex itineraries, especially post pandemic.
Marketing themes in 2023 will be focus on Unesco and nature tourism, and the tourist board will also promote sustainable travel options.
“Travel by rail is growing in popularity – one can travel from London to Cologne in around 4.5 hours, which, when compared to check-in times before a flight, is almost on par with flying time and more sustainable,” he explained.
“Sustainability is a key deciding factor for a majority of travellers and we are actively promoting climate friendly and sustainable travel with our Feel Good and Embrace German Nature Campaigns.”
He highlighted how Germany is year-round destination with many options to suit different interests, “from the major cities rich in culture, the world-famous palaces and gardens to the large number of national parks perfect for cycling and hiking and other outdoor activities” – plus themed routes such as The Romantic Route and The Wine Routes as well as the famous Christmas markets.
“We always say any season is a good season to visit Germany,” he added.