Venues & Events

German National Tourist Office and German Convention Bureau give insights into successful ‘green’ business travel and convention organisation

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Category: Venues & Events

Created on Friday, 28 September 2012 14:30

The event provided an exclusive opportunity for guests to discover Germany’s latest approach to ‘green’ business meetings, travel and sustainability trends for the future – something that has helped to position Germany as Europe's No. 1 destination for conferences and trade fairs.

More than 80 guests attended to hear Mr. Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and Mr. Klaus Lohmann, director of the German National Tourist Office (GNTB) give their views on why sustainable business is the route to success in the future. They were joined by keynote speaker Mr. Martin Riecken, Director Corporate Communications Europe for Lufthansa, the airline recently voted the short haul leisure airline (Condé Nast Traveller 15th Annual Readers’ Travel Awards).

The close economic ties between Germany and the UK and great expertise in common key industries such as the automotive sector, chemicals / healthcare, electronic, machine engineering and financial services make Germany not only one of the most important UK trade partner but also a preferred destination for meetings and conventions. That is the central conclusion of a market analysis conducted by TNS Infratest on behalf of the German Convention Bureau.

Business travel is a key economic factor for tourism in Germany. Total expenditure by inbound business travellers to Germany in 2010 was €14.73 billion. The latest tourism statistics for the first 7 months of 2012 show a further increase of 5.2% for visitors from the UK to German destinations.

Matthias Schultze, drawing on findings from Germany’s national annual survey of the events market in Germany- “According to the results of the Meeting & Event Barometer 2012, the German meetings industry has concluded the year 2011 with record results: 2.72 million events took place and were visited by 338 million participants throughout Germany. Compared to 2010, the number of visitors grew by another 4.5 percent. In addition the survey reinforces the importance of sustainability in the meeting planning process. 86 percent of event planners surveyed are convinced that the importance of “green meetings” will remain the same or even increase in the next few years.”

“Environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important to decision-makers and event organisers, for any profession” said Klaus Lohmann. “Innovation is another crucial factor and Germany is a major player in environmental technology. This will help to underpin the continuing success of ‘green’ meetings and sustainable tourism in future”.