More than 500 international travel buyers attended three-day virtual conference, including from across the GCC
Dubai – The virtual Germany Travel Mart™ GTM 2021, organised by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), has come to a very positive conclusion following a meeting between trade professionals from around the globe.
More than 250 German participants from sectors including hotel, transport, leisure, incoming services and regional tourism organisations joined around 500 buyers from international travel companies and online travel companies from April 27 – 29 to negotiate offers for the coming year.
According to an on-site survey of suppliers and buyers during the event, 84 per cent were satisfied / very satisfied with the course of GTM, with 86 per cent of the respondents stating that GTM was a good / very good platform for business deals.
Petra Hedorfer, Chairwoman of GNTB said: “As a digital platform, GTM is the central sales event for German incoming tourism with 79 per cent of the participants having already attended GTM as suppliers or buyers in the past.
“A preliminary survey on GTM 2021 confirmed excellent brand awareness for Germany as a travel destination among international key accounts and corresponded with high expectations – these have been fully met. 96 per cent of those surveyed were able to make new business contacts at GTM, 90 per cent want to take part in the GTM again in the coming year. With this track record, we are effectively supporting the restart for Germany’s incoming tourism.”
The information program offered panel discussions and webinars with market insights from important source markets for Germany, the latest trends on the international market, developments in the German tourism industry, Germany’s proposition as a travel destination, and the current GNTB marketing campaigns. Around 6,500 online appointments were arranged using the GNTB’s GTM Networking Tool.
Tobias Woitendorf, Managing Director of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Tourist Board (TMV), the partner region of GTM 2021, said: “GTM was a very good opportunity for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to intensify the direct exchange with international buyers who showed great interest in new tourism projects as well as sustainability and health holidays. The interest in travel is still unbroken, hopefully there will soon be an opening perspective. “
All important information and impressions about GTM 2021 can be found at: https://www.germany.travel/de/trade/gtm-germany-travel-mart/vgtm-2021-twitter-livereportage/virtualgtm-2021-twitter-livereportage.html.
In 2022, the GTM will take place from May 2nd to 4th in the run-up to the Passion Play in the municipality of Oberammergau.
Background information
GTM is organized annually by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) in cooperation with changing partner regions and cities. The heart of the event is the workshop. Providers from the hotel industry, transport as well as local and regional tourism organizations present their offers to the international specialist audience – key account managers of the international travel industry from important source markets for tourism in Germany. The participants can make new contacts and deepen existing ones, hold technical discussions and do business with German providers.