The German National Tourist Organisation (GNTO) is promoting newer destinations such as Saxony and Baden-Baden. In the India market, Munich is the most preferred destination, followed by Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin. Speaking to Express TravelWorld on the sidelines of their annual roadshow held in Mumbai, Romit Theophilus, director, marketing and sales – India, German National Tourist Board, said, “This year, from January to August, we received a 10 per cent growth over last year. We are hoping to continue that till the end of the year. It has been a great year; we are going to touch close to 700,000 overnights from India to Germany. We are hoping that we retain our number one spot we have had for the last five years.” The roadshow also took place in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru.
He further commented, “In 2014, we saw 5.6 per cent growth from India to Germany and until August 2015, we have already grown 10 per cent. We have crossed about 670,000 overnights until August. We do see a lot of interest towards leisure, Germany is known for trade fairs, etc, but we do see a lot of increase in interest in terms of MICE, as well as leisure. We are seeing newer cities in Germany being recognised by the trade as well as travellers.”
Kunal Kothari, executive director, Rail Europe India, said, “Last year we started coming out with promotions in the September-October period to influence people to travel in the off-season period when trains are also comparatively more available. Price wise also, it makes a lot of difference to the traveller, because flights are much more empty, it is off-season for the hotels too.”
Mark Spivey, director, international sales, Maritim Hotels, said, “We will have a 7.5 per cent market share of Indian arrivals into Germany; we are at six per cent now. Of course, Modi staying with us helped greatly. We will bring more packages into the family market. We have already devised a lot of strategies by having the Indian chef option.”
Gian Semrau, market executive, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa, Air Berlin, said, “We have 200 per cent growth in revenue out of India for the last year. Especially during summer season, there is a lot of traffic into Vienna. We also have a big traffic flowing from Bengaluru to Stuttgart, which is a corporate centre for Germany as well as India. We really see the importance of the India market; that’s why come here every year to promote our partnership with Etihad Airways and Jet Airways.”
