The 39th Germany Travel Mart (GTM), hosted by the German National Travel Bureau (GNTB) with Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH, May 5 – 7, 2013, created a valuable forum for providers to meet key buyers from the international travel industry. The forum provided the opportunity to obtain the latest news and trends of the German tourism industry. For hosted buyers, a variety of educational programs were available that included presentations on trends and products, as well as panel discussions.
The three-day event in Stuttgart was well-represented with around 620 informed buyers and international journalists from 42 countries who interacted with over 350 German suppliers, ranging from the hotel industry and ground handlers to the local and regional tourist organizations.
“The GTM is the most important B2B platform for Destination Germany. In this star-studded forum, German suppliers met with key account managers from around the world to work together worldwide to optimally market Germany as a travel destination”, said Petra Hedorfer, CEO, German National Tourist Board.
During the international press conference, Petra Hedorfer reported that “the highest-revenue source market for Germany last year was the U.S.”…“In the rankings of Germany’s highest-revenue source markets, the USA was a clear leader with revenues of around €4.3 billion ($5.5 billion) in 2012,” followed by Switzerland and Russia.
The German National Tourist Board (DZT) utilized social media platforms to engage users through multimedia reporting on GTM activities. Increased engagement on GTM provided the trade, media, and the general public with access to presentations, visuals, audio and video podcasts both on the GTM website and on Twitter with a total of about 300 tweets on the hash tag #gtm13 throughout the event.
The venues were designed to highlight Stuttgart Region’s main visitor attractions with a reception in the New Palace and an informal networking evening reception with local cuisine in the heart of Stuttgart. The opening event began with a forum in Schlosspark in Ludwigsburg, followed by an impressive celebration in the Baroque former royal residence of Ludwigsburg Palace. Other highlights included an exclusive evening event in the spectacular Mercedes-Benz Museum and a visit to the Stuttgart Spring Festival.
At the conclusion of GMT, the DZT quickly surveyed and found that nearly 98 percent of the participants were satisfied with the overall event or were very satisfied and considered it extremely effective and important.
American participants from the travel trade and media found the workshop stimulating since it brought together a diverse group of travel professionals, who had interest in exploring various destinations and attractions of Germany, particularly in the city of Stuttgart and its surrounding regions.
Various pre-convention tours were offered to participants on different aspects of Germany in advance of the GTM. For international buyers, there were seven tours, which comprised of different subjects, including the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, German Fairy Tale Road, Rural & Sustainability, Youth Travel, Luther, Health & Wellness and Accessible Travel. The two pre-convention tours for journalists on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the European Route of Industrial Heritage highlighted the cultural and industrial aspects of German travel.
German National Tourist Board, www.germany.travel