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More people around the world want to travel again in 2021 than in 2020. With its strong brand performance, Germany as a travel destination is positioned to play an important part in the growing desire to travel. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) developed this analysis based on the most recent studies by IPK International, which examine the impact of Covid-19 on international tourism and the development of travel intentions in several rounds of surveys.

In general, the desire to travel abroad has risen in all the countries included in the study from 50 percent in May 2020 to 62 percent in the most recent survey in January 2021. Intentions to travel abroad are most pronounced in Europe with 72 percent of those asked indicating they will travel, compared with 53 percent in the USA and 41 percent in Asia.

Worldwide, the travel intentions among Millennials, Generation X, higher-income households, and individuals with a higher education have grown more noticeable than among the ‘Baby Boomers’ (group aged 55 and over).

Perspectives for Germany as a travel destination

At the beginning of 2021, Germany as a travel destination was in second place in the international destination ranking of worldwide travel intentions: 24 percent of those surveyed in 18 of Germany’s important source markets intend to travel to Germany this year. Spain ranks first in terms of travel intentions, followed by Germany, Italy, France, and the USA.

Even in times of the pandemic, cities are Germany’s number 1 tourist magnet. City trips lead with 50 percent on the scale of travel intentions for 2021, followed by nature-oriented holidays in the countryside and the mountains with 41 percent. 34 percent of participants want to go on a swimming/beach vacation in Germany.

This is underlined by the Travel Sentiment study by the European Travel Commission (ETC). In the 5th round of the survey (end of December 2020 / beginning of January 2021), the so-called “City Life Enthusiasts” were the largest group who want to travel again in the next six months.

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the Executive Board of the GNTB: “Europe is and will remain the most important source region for Germany’s incoming tourism. The generally high willingness to travel abroad on the continent and our broadly based tourist attractions, – i. e., cities, culture, natural landscapes, active vacation offers – result in Germany’s strong position in the destination ranking. We, therefore, see good prospects for a recovery in Germany’s incoming tourism.”

Deciding factors and planning for travel in 2021

According to the latest IPK International survey, the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to shape travel behavior in international tourism in 2021. According to ETC monitoring, ‘Health & Safety’ is by far the highest priority for European travelers. This data and further information is available in the brochure ‘Numbers – Data – Facts 2020’, which is now available online.

Focus on Digitalization and Sustainability

The GNTB promotes future-oriented and sustainable tourism in line with the objectives of the federal government. The focus is on digitalization and sustainability issues. The GNTB is a trendsetter or sets the pace in the implementation of immersive technologies (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality), in the use of conversational interfaces (e.g., voice assistants) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, for example, in chatbots. To ensure the visibility of tourism offers on AI-supported marketing platforms, the GNTB coordinates the joint open data project of the German tourism industry to develop a knowledge graph. The topic of sustainability has been a central cross-departmental topic for over a decade and is dealt with strategically across departments in all company areas. The organization pursues a three-pillar strategy that couples the external transfer of knowledge and an accompanying communication approach with an organization-internal sustainability initiative. The GNTB addresses the future issue of ecological responsible tourism by positioning Germany as a competitive international travel destination with sustainable and inclusive offers. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the shift in values towards more socio-ecological responsibility in international travel behavior has intensified.