Germany News: Germany for young people in 2013

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GNTB theme for 2013: ‘Germany for young people’

Germany reaches out to young travellers with its campaign ‘Youth HotSpots in Germany – Share the moment.’

New York, March 22, 2013 – Germany has become an increasingly popular destination for young people over the past few years. That is why the worldwide sales and marketing activities of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) are focusing on youth travel in 2013. The theme ‘Germany for young people – vibrant, fashionable, innovative’ caters to a huge tourism segment offering vast economic potential. “Young international travellers are a target group with considerable potential for growth,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

Social media campaign: ‘Youth HotSpots in Germany – Share the moment.’

Activities for the theme year are centred around a broad-ranging social media campaign entitled ‘Youth HotSpots in Germany – Share the moment.’, which was officially launched at the 2013 ITB in Berlin and will continue until March 2014. The main communication channels being used at the start of the campaign are the dedicated section of the website (www.germany.travel/youth) and social media platforms, in particular Facebook, Twitter (twitter.com/GNTB2013) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/youthhotspotsgermany).

App and microsite for ‘sharing the moment’

The core elements of the campaign are a mobile app and a new microsite. As most young people now take their smartphones with them when travelling or on holiday, the GNTB has brought out a Youth HotSpot mobile app as part of the campaign. The app is available free of charge from the App Store and on Google Play. It provides young international travellers with an overview of 1,300 open-access Wi-Fi hotspots in Germany, enabling them to access social networks for free.

Another key aspect of the campaign is the GNTB’s microsite at www.germany.travel/youth. It specifically targets young visitors and gives them the chance to find out about Germany before they arrive. An interactive map uses pulsating rings of different sizes to show where there is most going on in Germany in the five HotSpot categories: must-sees, nightlife, shopping, bars & cafés and festivals & events. Clicking on the rings on the interactive map opens the towns and cities in which the different HotSpots are located. The original HotSpots were selected on the basis of surveys of young Germans. Users will be able to update the map with their own HotSpots and share them with their friends on Facebook and other social media. In doing so, they will be creating user-generated content for the microsite and thereby becoming part of the campaign themselves. This word-of-mouth marketing, which is now very much on-trend, allows the GNTB to make young visitors aware of HotSpots in Germany. Recommendations made by friends on social networks are a particularly important source of information for young people.

The map categories were derived from a survey conducted by IPK International and the 2011 World Travel Monitor (WTM), which found that city breaks (33 per cent) and multi-destination tours (27 per cent) are especially popular with young European travellers. According to IPK International and the WTM, young visitors’ preferred holiday activities include sightseeing and soaking up the atmosphere in towns and cities. Consequently, the main attractions for them are the major cities and specific events. Shopping and culinary experiences are also popular, as are exhibitions and museums. Germany’s 6,000 or so museums cater to every interest, from art and architecture to history and the natural world.

About the GNTB

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) has its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It works on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. The GNTB develops and communicates strategies and products to promote Germany’s positive image abroad as a tourist destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country. It has 30 agencies around the world to support its activities. More information can be found in our online press centre atwww.germany.travel/presse.

Wibke Carter

Public Relations Manager North America

German National Tourist Office

122 East 42^nd Street, Suite 2000

New York, New York 10168-0072

+1 212-661-7200 ext. 223 or 212-661-7175

www.twitter.com/germanytourism

www.germany.travel

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