New data from the German National Tourist Board reveals that the number of overnight stays by Indians in Germany increased by 209 per cent in 2022 compared to the previous year. The India office of the European tourism board organised its annual press conference in association with the German Embassy in India to apprise about the latest tourism developments in the destination.
Inching closer to pre-Covid numbers, visitation by Indian travellers to Germany revived 65 per cent in 2022, and in the first quarter of this year, the recovery figure stood at 89 per cent, indicating another positive quarter of strong visitation by Indians.
In the first four months of 2023 (January to April), overnight stays in Germany by Indian tourists increased by 120 per cent, with 246,739 visits. Notably, India is placed 21st in the top inbound tourism markets for Germany. The US is the number one overseas market for Germany Tourism.
In 2022, Indians spent a total of 623,363 nights in Germany, which is an increase from 201,194 nights in 2021. However, the record level of 961,656 nights in 2019 has not yet been reached.
According to Romit Theophilus, Director India for the German National Tourist Office, there is a huge demand among Indians for international travel, and the destination’s medium-term goal is to reach pre-Covid levels by the end of this year. He also termed Germany as an affordable European option after he cited data indicating lower room rates in German hotels than the European average and other destinations.
Leisure outpace business trips
According to the data shared by the German Tourism Board, out of the total visitation by Indian travellers to Germany, holiday trips have outpaced business trips defying the earlier trend. 52 per cent of Indians took a holiday trip to Germany, while 39 per cent of Indians travelled to Germany for a business trip. VFR and other trips occupied 9 per cent share.
Looking at the booking pattern, 87 per cent of the holiday trips by Indians are booked online while 43 per cent of them are done through a travel advisor or tour operators. 29 per cent holiday trips are booked directly.
New York City is expecting to welcome 306,000 tourists from India this year as the city experiences economic recovery and growing momentum in international tourism following the pandemic. The city hopes to welcome 11.4 million foreign visitors overall in 2022, generating approximately USD 40 billion in direct spending and USD 60 billion in total economic impact.
Lesser wait time for visa
On the occasion, Georg Enzweiler, the new Deputy Head of Mission for the German Embassy in India said that there is a high desire among Indian travellers to travel to Germany and they are working to bring down the wait time for visa approvals with more workforce at its visa processing unit in Mumbai. Currently, the average wait time for a German visa in India is 8 weeks.
“Germany is the second most popular Schengen destination for Indians. Visa is an important issue for us. We are striving to get better with regard to application time. We’ve increased our staff substantially in Mumbai and the waiting time has also gone down to eight weeks now. We are doing our best to improve on this and hope to get better with time,” he said.
Another important development with the German visa is that applicants can apply anywhere from India irrespective of their issuing region, which is the case with certain other Schengen visas.
New campaigns
To further increase visitor numbers, the GNTO is offering a comprehensive tourism package with three different campaign themes for 2023, including a UNESCO campaign and two campaigns with a strong ‘green focus’ that have already had a successful impact in 2022. Theophilus said that these campaigns will be played out with new travel ideas and inspirations in 2023.
On ETTravelWorld’s query on spending trends by Indians in Germany, he said that visitors, on average, spend around 1800 – 2,000 Euros while on the trip. The average overnight stay by Indians in Germany is 3 to 4 nights. Theophilus said these campaigns are aimed at encouraging Indian travellers to spend more time in Germany and take the average overnight stay to 6 to 7 nights.
The German National Tourism Office is also working to position Germany as an ideal sustainable destination for tourists by marketing sites as a part of product diversity in cities and rural areas with good accessibility.
The desire to travel may even strengthen next year, according to travel tech firm Amadeus, whose recent survey showed that 47% of respondents said international travel was a high-priority discretionary spending category for 2023 and 2024, compared with 42% who ranked it as such the previous year. Amadeus sampled travellers from Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Singapore.
