Exclusive: Yamina Sofo, Director of Sales and Marketing...

Exclusive: Yamina Sofo, Director of Sales and Marketing, German National Tourist Office (GNTO), the regional office of GNTB

Q1: Let’s start with the good news! Germany is opening up again?

A: “The announcement earlier this week that travellers to Germany who are either vaccinated with a European-approved vaccine or holds a negative PCR test are able to visit Germany without quarantine requirements once leisure tourism resumes is great news for the industry. We are still awaiting the full clarity of this and when the country’s tourism sector is fully open for international tourism, but it will certainly stimulate further interest in travel to Germany.”

Q2: What are travel criteria and what type of vaccination or PCR is required to visit Germany?

A: “This is something that we are unable to comment on and would refer you to the official government guidance.”

Q3: The new airport in Berlin opened up in late 2020. How will this airport help the GCC travelers?

A: “Berlin, like many of our major towns and cities, are popular destinations for GCC travellers. They offer a wide range of experiences from culinary and entertainment, to culinary and culture. The new airport further increases the appeal for a greater number of airlines, further increasing connectivity with our capital city.”

Q4: How is Germany preparing to welcome visitors from GCC while making sure safety remains priority?

A: “it is the most visited country in central Europe, and incredibly popular with GCC travellers. The country’s leading position with safety and infrastructure has continued to provide reassurance for travellers planning their next trip. In fact, as a destination we have invested significantly in ensuring that we are ready to welcome international travellers, and through the digital health pass, travellers can experience streamlined and safe travel.

“The tourism and hospitality sector has worked tirelessly to ensure all necessary safety measures are in place to provide that additional reassurance for visitors.”

Q5: Where do GCC travelers rank in terms of overall visitors to Germany?

A: “The GCC represents the third largest overseas market for overnight guests to Germany, with 100 direct flights operating to our key gateway cities from across the region operating currently. In 2019 we hosted more than 1.6 million overnight stays from the GCC, and despite the challenges in 2020, more than 300,000 hotel nights were registered from GCC travellers.”

Q6: How long do you anticipate before tourism to Germany comes to the level of pre-Covid?

A: “Recent statistics from our region show increased appetite for travel, which has been fuelled by the successful vaccination programmes which have taken place across the GCC. Based on this, we anticipate that the tourism recovery from the GCC will be relatively short and anticipate strong growth over the coming 12 months.”

Q7: What GCC nationals compromise the largest in terms of visitors to Germany?

A: “Beyond our cities with their shopping and culinary offerings, nature and outdoor pursuits continue to attract GCC travellers, which we anticipate will increase in demand.”

Keep up-to-date with the latest information on travelling to Germany by visiting www.germany.travel.

ENDS

About the GNTB

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is Germany’s national tourism organisation. It works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. Working closely with the German travel industry and private-sector partners and trade associations, the GNTB develops strategies and marketing campaigns to promote Germany’s positive image abroad as a tourist destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country.

The GNTB has a three-pronged recovery strategy for overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic:

- Raising awareness of the Destination Germany brand and enhancing the brand profile

- Supporting the travel industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, through relationship management and the sharing of knowledge       

- Developing evidence-based action plans on the basis of targeted market research and ongoing analysis of the impact of coronavirus.

During this crisis, the GNTB is using countercyclical marketing to maintain dialogue with customers, it is reflecting changing preferences in its communications, and it is showing empathy and providing inspiration.

Focus on digitalisation and sustainability

The GNTB promotes forward-looking and sustainable tourism in line with the objectives of the German government. The focus here is on digitalisation and sustainability. The GNTB is a pioneer when it comes to using immersive technologies (virtual, augmented and mixed reality), voice assistants and other conversational interfaces, and artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots. To ensure that tourism offerings are visible on AI-based marketing platforms, the GNTB coordinates the German tourism industry’s open-data project, which aims to develop a tourism knowledge graph.

Sustainability has been a core overarching topic for more than a decade and we engage with it as a strategic issue across all areas of the organisation. Our organisation follows a three-pillar strategy that combines the sharing of knowledge with external partners and a supporting communications strategy with our internal sustainability initiative. The GNTB promotes responsible tourism, a key growth area, by showcasing Germany as a sustainable and inclusive destination in the international travel market. This is particularly important as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the global shift in travellers’ values towards greater social and environmental responsibility.

The GNTB has 27 foreign agencies that cover more than 40 markets around the world. Its head office in Frankfurt, Germany, is home to strategic departments such as Business Intelligence, Business Development and Brand Communications for Destination Germany.

Further information can be found in our online press center at www.germany.travel/presse. To download press pictures, please register via: https://dam.germany.travel

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For further information, please contact:

Emma Patterson / Yara Hamdan 

[email protected] / [email protected]

+971 50 8212091

This article was previously published on UAE Moments.To see the original article, click here