"Dallal fi Almania" 2013 brings to the Arabian Gulf Germany's offer for families and young Arabs

This tour, organized in partnership with Lufthansa German Airlines, focused this year in particular on the tourist offer for families and young travellers. The road show terminated yesterday in Dubai, after stopping in Kuwait City, Doha and Abu Dhabi for the previous sessions of four-day tour.

"Figures for travellers from the Arab Gulf States are increasing at a faster rate than ever; with this, the GCC countries continue to represent one of the top twenty source markets in the German tourism industry" said Antje Roeding-Boudier, Director of the Marketing & Sales Office of the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) in the Gulf region.

According to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office, overnight stays by travellers from the GCC totalled 1,216,490 in the first eleven months of 2012. This equates to an impressive increase of 27.7% compared with the same period of the previous year. Moreover, visitors from this region are particularly high spenders: according to IPK International's World Travel Monitor, their average spending on a trip to Germany was €3,850 in 2011. By comparison, the average for visitors from Europe was €511.

"Given the family-oriented demand characterizing this important region, the GNTO and its partners aimed at providing with this year's workshop theme a more detailed view on the multitude of offers that make Germany the ideal holiday destination for Arab families and young travellers," Roeding-Boudier said.

"For spending a holiday together as an Arab family, Germany is the perfect destination. Visitors of all ages will love going to theme parks, water parks, castles, museums and fun pools, getting close to nature in the national parks, and engaging in active pursuits such as cycling, swimming and walking; moreover, young people will find that travelling to Germany is simple, safe and affordable, and there are lots of special offers. Getting around is quick and easy thanks to the excellent roads and the superb infrastructure for coach and train travel," she explained.

In total, twenty two partners, representing the accommodation, attractions, tourism services, transportation and healthcare services sectors in Germany, supported the realisation of the road show "Dallal fi Almania" 2013. In light of the continuously expanding popularity of Germany as a tourist destination for families from the GCC countries, the guests from the Arabian Gulf's travel industry and media enthusiastically took part in the road show.

The staged activities involved discussions, exchanges as well as one-to-one workshop sessions, which provided extensive networking opportunities to the participants. This networking and the informative dialogue established between the German and Arab counterparts continue to be the most appreciated aspects of this successful promotional tool created by GNTO.

GNTO has been promoting Germany intensively in the Gulf region over the past years, showcasing Germany's diversified tourist offers and launching various initiatives for the travel trade and local media representatives. In addition to GNTO's annual road show 'Dallal fi Almania', other measures included study tours, training and presentations for travel trade representatives aimed at informing the regional audience more broadly about what Germany as a travel destination has to offer to its guests.

Particularly relevant is the Germany Travel Mart (GTM), the largest workshop for incoming tourism to Germany, which in 2013 will be held in Stuttgart from 05th to 07th of May. In occasion of this event, the GNTO in the Gulf region will be joined by hosted buyers and media representatives from different GCC countries.