German National Tourist Office and Wego Entice GCC Travellers to Visit Germany
The new regulations for GCC travelers make travel to Germany easier
Dubai, 22 November 2021:Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) partnered with the German National Tourist Office to get travelers to experience Germany and Berlin in the new norm.
Germany has eased travel restrictions to encourage GCC travelers to explore the countrys 51 UNESCO World Heritage sites which include the awe-inspiring castles and old towns that add a medieval flair.
Bahrain and the UAE have recently been added to the German safe list alongside Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, making it easier for visitors from the GCC to explore the country again, especially in the winter season.
The reduction in restrictions applies to all travellers twelve years and above regardless of individual vaccination status, with visitors now able to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of travel, a valid vaccination certificate, or proof of recovery.
For full entry requirements to Germany, visitors are advised to refer towww.bmi.bund.de.
As part of the collaborative campaign, the German National Tourist Office and Wego will be shedding light on the outdoor adventures, winter activities, and festivities on offer across Germany this winter for families, couples, and solo travelers, in addition to Berlin's sights and tourist attractions to entice GCC travelers.
Mamoun Hmedan, Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said: "Our partnership with the German National Tourist Office marks another step towards promoting tourism and encouraging people to travel again in the new norm. Our searches show an increase in the appetite for GCC travelers to travel to European countries after hiatus and Germany ranks amongst the top European destinations."
Germany offers nature-oriented holidays for all adventure seekers and solo travellers which includes the bountiful parks by the south of Hamburg, the nature trails along the Rhine Valley and treks over the chalk cliffs of Rugen Island. In addition, couples get to enjoy Germanys stunning islands in the north, serene mountains, and waterfalls as well as the famous 'Black Forest'in the south.
Yamina Sofo, Director of Sales and Marketing, German National Tourist Office, said: "The winter season is a favoured time to visit Germany for GCC travellers, and with the recent news on travel being eased, we look forward to welcoming them to our wonderful festive seasonal markets, spa and wellness retreats, and outdoor sporting activities. The EU continues to update their recommendations to member states regularly, we advise those who plan on visiting Germany to review the listed rules regularly."
The German capital Berlin provides travelers with a chance to discover a reinvented city that has something new to discover on every corner, space for free spirits and a fascinating mix of heritage and innovation. Berlin is preparing to launch its winter holiday events the "Merry Marketplace"which is perfect for children and families.
With around 20 million (62% of the population) fully vaccinated, most of Germany's tourist attractions including the castles, museums, memorials, and amusement parks have been reopened with significant health and safety protocols like decreased contact, distancing rules and hygiene requirements.
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About Wego
Wego provides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airline, hotel and online travel agency websites.
Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.
Wego was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Dubai and Singapore with regional operations in Bangalore، Jakarta and Cairo.
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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 Germanys 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 lockdown, GNTB used countercyclical marketing to maintain dialogue with customers, reflect changing preferences in its communications, and show empathy and provide 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 industrys 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 atwww.germany.travel/presse. To download press pictures, please register via:https://dam.germany.travel
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About visitBerlin
Inspiring the world for Berlin. With this mission, Berlin Tourismus Kongress GmbH promotes Berlins destination management as well as the citys tourism and congress marketing. Under the visitBerlin brand, the company is a partner, actor, source of creative ideas, and networker. Its remit is focused on sustainable product development and marketing city-compatible tourism services in all twelve Berlin boroughs with the aim of maintaining the life quality of local residents and harmoniously increasing experience value for visitors. As a tour operator, visitBerlin also issues the Berlin WelcomeCard, the citys official tourist ticket. The company also operates the Berlin Tourist Info Centres. On visitBerlin.de, Berlins official tourism website, visitors can find all the information they need on every aspect of their trip to the city. Find out more about visitBerlin on about.visitBerlin.de
Raj Bhatt
Dubai, United Arab Emirates UAE