Germany Sees 180% Increase in Number of Visitors from Gulf States
Nationals from Gulf countries accounted for over 872,000 overnight stays, thus becoming among the most significant markets for Germany in the first nine months of this year.
According to the figures provided by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), Germany experienced a total of 180 per cent surge in overnight stays from nationals from Gulf countries in the first three quarters of this year, in comparison to the same period last year, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Last year, the number of GCC nationals travelling to Germany was 311,000, showing significant growth. However, the figures stood well below pre-pandemic levels, marking a decrease of 34.5 per cent.
In this regard, the German National Tourist Office, the regional office of GNTB, Yamina Sofo, stressed that the country continues to see a strong traction from nationals from GCC countries.
“Our goal at the moment is to continue to attract visitors from the region and aim to reach the numbers we welcomed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen a striking performance this year when compared to 2021, demonstrating that our diverse campaigns and offerings are attractive, and effectively reaching the audience,” Sofo pointed out in this regard.
According to a report provided by Zawya, the Asian source market registered over 2.9 million overnight stays for a period between January until September this year, thus indicating a surge of 283 per cent compared to the figures of the same period last year. At the same time, this upsurge shows that passengers are eager to travel even more than usual.
Recently, the GNTB presented a campaign in order to bring to the country a large number of international visitors, thus helping the country’s tourism industry recover from the damages caused by the travel bans and other restrictions imposed to stop the further spread of COVID-19 and its new variants.
Following the easing of the COVID-related restrictions, authorities in Germany have noted a significant improvement in the country’s travel and tourism sector.
The figures provided previously by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that in October this year, a 2.7 per cent increase was marked in the number of overnight stays registered in Germany, compared to the figures of the same period last year.
Still, despite the notable increase, the figures continue to remain below pre-pandemic levels before the spread of the virus.
In addition, the data provided by the Federal Statistical Office also show that a total of 17.5 million overnight stays in German establishments were registered in December 2021, which shows that a significant increase was marked compared to 2020’s figures.
