NEW DELHI: Germany continues to be one of the most sought after destinations for Indians travelling aboard.
The country witnessed 8, 52,224 visitor overnights in 2017 making for a 13.8 per cent growth over 2016.
Owing to this steady growth, The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) in India forecasts a 5-8 per cent growth in visitor overnights for the year 2018.
With experiential travel becoming the most sought after genre in leisure travel, The GNTO, which focuses on theme based marketing, is promoting ''Culinary Germany-More to explore'' as its core global marketing theme this year.
Briefing media about the new marketing theme for this year, the German National Tourist Office Director for India, Mr Romit Theophilus said, ''Food forms an integral part of any traveler's itinerary.
''Experiencing the local flavors helps enhance the flavor of any holiday and makes for everlasting impressions.
With over 5,000 beers from 1,300 breweries, 300 types of bread, 1,500 types of sausage, 13 wine regions, 292 Michelin-starred restaurants and 3,000 to 5,000 Christmas markets Germany is sure to satiate any travelers appetite.
From 'Pannfisch' fried fish in the north to green sauce and 'Bratwurst' sausages in Central Germany to dumplings, 'Maultaschen' pasta pockets and 'Eisbein' ham hock in the South- German Cuisine is as diverse as the countries varied landscape.
"According to the Quality Monitor survey of the German tourism industry, 4 per cent of international holidaymakers comes to Germany specifically for the variety and quality of its food and drink.
The sector, therefore, contributes at least 3.2 million overnight stays to Germany's inbound tourism.
53 per cent of holidaymakers from abroad say that going to restaurants and cafe's is one of their favourite things to do" besides sightseeing and ahead of visiting museums/exhibitions.
Forty per cent of international guests like to experience typical regional cuisine while on holiday in Germany.
The GNTB has defined the campaign's target audience based on the findings of the GlobalWebIndex " which pools data from surveys of internet users based in 40 countries.
'Travelling food-lovers' are generally quite young, well-educated family people with children; they are often city dwellers and are very active on social media.
Destination Germany, which has always used new and innovative strategies to promote itself, launched its Web Based Destination Training Module www.germanyspecialist.com in December 2017.
The platform, which has four interactive and informative training modules, is prepared so that tour operators can easily access all essential information required to create interesting itineraries to Destination Germany.
The platform already has over 750 registered tour operators seeking to improve their knowledge of the destinations and aiming at being certified Destination Germany Specialists.
Adding to its cherished status of being a favored Leisure Destination amongst Indians, the German National Tourist Office, and India now boasts of over 1 Million followers on its Facebook platform www.facebook.com/germanytourism.
Speaking on the occasion on achieving this milestone, Theophilus said, ''We had envisioned that our Facebook page would be the hub for interactions and discussions on all things related to travel to Germany and we are happy to see the popularity of the page amongst Facebook enthusiasts.
With engagement rates of 16 per cent on an average, the page has become the regular haunt for travelers looking at exploring new experiences.
''On a concluding note, Theophilus stated that ''From mesmerising natural scenic beauty, unique and fun traditions and culture, vibrant nightlife and lots more offered at the best value for every Euro Spent, Destination Germany is undoubtedly one of the best choices for a European holiday.
We hope that more and more Indian travelers have the opportunity to explore this beautiful destination and experience it."