German National Tourist Office hosted a successful Networking Lunch to promote ‘Germany’ as a year-round travel destination

The German National Tourist Office-Gulf countries (GNTO) held a very-well received B2B travel trade networking lunch in the Kingdom of Bahrain in partnership with premium airline partner, Lufthansa German Airlines. The continued aim of the GNTO’s series of the B2B events is to promote Germany as a year-round travel destination and to highlight the latest tourism attractions for the year 2020.

Attended by the German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain His Excellency Kai Boeckmann together with selected Bahraini travel trade professionals, key opinion leaders and media, this exclusive networking event was the perfect opportunity to showcase some of the leading German tourism partners to the local travel market, to facilitate business and to highlight the vast spectrum of attractions that Germany offers to Bahraini visitors.

Commenting at the event, His Excellency Kai Boeckmann said: “Diversity is a key element that Germany offers and I’m delighted to invite Bahraini tourists to visit my homeland to enjoy a memorable visit, whether with its high quality of services, luxury facilities or with the vibrant atmosphere of each and every city.”

During the event, Mark Pey, General Manager Sales, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain & Yemen, Lufthansa Group said: “Today’s networking event has been one of huge importance to us, year on year we’re seeing an increase in Bahraini nationals visiting Germany and choosing Lufthansa as their airline of choice.

Lufthansa first started operating to Germany from Bahrain on 02 April 1985, and is proud to continue connecting the countries by offering customers premium products and services. .”

Discussing the importance of the GCC market, Nicole Zaspel, Sales & Marketing Manager for the Gulf countries at German National Tourist Office (GNTO), an affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), commented: “The GCC market, is the third-largest non-European source market behind China and the United States and is very important to us. We’ve seen incredible growth with 1.8 million overnight stays by GCC nationals in 2018 compared to 770,000 overnight stays in 2009, which demonstrates that the annual number of overnight stays has grown by 130% over the past decade.”

According to the latest forecast from the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), Gulf region travellers are expected to grow to 3.6 million overnight stays by 2030. They tend to stay an average of 11 nights and spend on average $5,300 per person per trip, significantly more than other international travellers.

In partnership with premium airline partner, Lufthansa German Airlines, six German partners took part to the ‘Destination Germany’ networking lunch in the Kingdom of Bahrain, showcasing their attractions and exclusive facilities to the leading Bahraini Travel Trade professionals:

Breuninger Department Store

Cologne Tourist Board  

Excelsior Hotel Ernst     

Hotel Bayerischer Hof Munich   

Ingolstadt & Wertheim Village  

Studiosus Incoming Munich      

About GNTB

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 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. The GNTB develops and communicates strategies and products to promote Germany’s positive image abroad as a tourist destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country. It has 31 agencies around the world to support its activities. Further information is available from our online press centre at www.germany.travel/presse. To download press pictures, please register via: https://dam.germany.travel

About Lufthansa German Airlines

Lufthansa German Airlines is the largest airline within the Lufthansa Group and the first and only European airline to receive a 5-Star Skytrax rating. As one of the world's leading airlines, Lufthansa offers 5,225 weekly frequencies to 199 destinations in 74 countries worldwide from of its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich during the winter 2019/20 schedule. In the 2018 business year, the airline welcomed around 70 million passengers on board its flights. The Lufthansa passenger fleet consists of 351 aircraft (as of 31.12.2018) and will continue to take delivery of new aircraft until 2027. Revenue at Lufthansa German Airlines rose to EUR 16.1 billion in 2018. The airline employs 32,000 employees.

Media contact:

German National Tourist Office (GNTO) - Press contact:

Nermin Abushnaf

Communications Manager – Gulf countries

Tel. +971 44 470 585  

Nermin.abushnaf@germany.travel

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Hind Bellouk Al Naqbi

Wajaha Public Relations

Managing Director

+97152 7577979

hind@wjhmedia.com