GNTB Promotes “Fascination Reunification” Online

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. January 05, 2015

New York City - January 5, 2015 - The German National Tourist Board's (GNTB) 2-year campaign, “Fascination Reunification,” deals with the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and subsequent events leading up to German reunification in October of 1990. The GNTB's focus is on social media to inform users about tourist attractions that have developed in the last 25 years and are adding to Germany's draw as a travel destination.

“In 2013 we recorded 71.9 million overnight stays by visitors from abroad - 37.2 million more than in 1993. With almost 16.3 million overnight stays in 2013, the new federal states alone have displayed above-average growth of 375 percent in the past 20 years; the German capital even recorded remarkable increase of 509 percent,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB. “With our social media activities we are generating high-quality content for our online platforms. Our moving image format adds emotional appeal to the “Fascination Reunification” campaign with personal experiences, authentic impressions and stories.

Moving Image Format Increases Social Media Response

A key element of the activities is a video blogger project for which in this first year nine films have been included on the GNTB Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/germanytourism and on the campaign-related pages at www.germany.travel/faszination-einheit. Some of the clips, such as impressions from the island of Rügen, from the Hanseatic City of Hamburg or the Spreewald generated more than 100,000 views in just a few weeks. The latest production dealing with the Green Belt along the former border between East and West Germany has been online since December.

Increased Social Media Fan Numbers

With its “Fascination Reunification” themed campaign, the GNTB is gaining an increasing number of social media fans. In its summer campaign, “My summer holiday in Germany - 25 years after the fall of the wall,” the GNTB utilized various social media channels to ask visitors to Germany to upload their travel images to #germany25reunified on Instagram. More than 4,000 photos were uploaded in response to this international photo contest.

“Visit Germany,” the GNTB Great Britain's official Facebook site, now has 100,000 fans. With a series of themed initiatives, including the “Fascination Reunification” campaign, the number of fans has more than doubled since the start of the year.

Traditional PR and Marketing Activities in Foreign Markets In addition, in 2014 the GNTB organized more than 40 PR events and marketing initiatives around the world, to highlight the events of 1989 and the ever-increasing attractiveness of Germany as a travel destination since then. Key markets for these activities included Great Britain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain.

The “Fascination Reunification” theme campaign will continue in 2015, with a focus on German reunification. In line with other GNTB topics, such as positioning Germany as a sustainable travel destination or promoting tourism in rural regions, the Green Belt and cross-border natural landscapes will be special highlights.

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 for Economic Affairs and Energy (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 at www.germany.travel/presse.