Campaign theme 2015 “Traditions and Customs” are the GNTB's key themes for 2015 Frankfurt am Main, 15 December 2014 – The way Germany’s Traditions and Customs have shaped its international image and secured its position as one of the world’s top travel destinations, is the subject of the GNTB’s worldwide campaign for 2015. Using the three aspects of “Culinary Germany”, “Living traditions” and “Arts and Crafts”, the campaign will link the positive, modern image of Germany as a travel destination with authentic living traditions and how they are embedded in contemporary society. The aim of the campaign is to bring to life the brand “Destination Germany”. “The 'Heritage and History of the Region' aspect is one of the top ten reasons foreign visitors choose Germany as a holiday destination, according to the GNTB Quality Monitor tourism survey. We are very consciously using the campaign to add a new dimension in inbound tourism to complement the traditionally strong city breaks segment, which to date has always attracted a disproportionately large share of foreign visitors”, says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB, explaining the choice of theme for the campaign. “22 per cent of inbound visitors to Germany already head for our rural areas. By picking up on the current trend for originality and authenticity, we are using the theme of “Traditions and Customs” to promote the development of tourism in rural areas and thus give Germany a stronger position as a sustainable travel destination.” The campaign will encourage foreign visitors to sample Germany's many local specialities, to experience traditional festivals and customs in German regions and cities, such as the Munich Beer Festival and the Cologne Carnival, and to discover German cultural events and festivals, arts, crafts and music. Together with regional marketing organisations and regional partners, the GNTB will be presenting specific traditions and customs as part of the campaign. Crucial to the selection process will be their special features as well as their relevance to tourism, the quality of services in the area and the interests of potential visitors in different source markets. The campaign will be promoted across the GNTB’s 30 offices worldwide. A central element of the campaign is the international blogger tours on the three aspects, which will be conducted throughout 2015. With the support of the GNTB and their regional partners, bloggers from the different markets will visit Germany in 2015 to experience the traditions and customs and document their impressions in writing and images. Furthermore, Instagram tours will take place all over Germany, in which high-quality photographs are made available to the campaign by influencers. In addition to the live reports on social media platforms, the content will be published on its own social wall with the hash tag #JoinGermanTradition. Several teaser videos and a themed clip will raise awareness for the campaign. Events and dates relevant to the themes of “Traditions and Customs” will be incorporated into the GNTB's events database and an image brochure in English and German will highlight selected traditions and customs from all the federal states. The magazine will be available as an e-brochure with videos and links alongside the expansion of the online content at www.germany.travel/tradition. With the aid of the online campaign “True or False”, users can test their knowledge about “Destination Germany”. Traditional marketing and PR campaigns and activities on social media channels will also form an integral part of the campaign. Chi siamo La DZT (Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus) è l'Ente Nazionale Germanico per il Turismo (ENGT). La sua sede principale è a Francoforte sul Meno. Su incarico del Ministero Federale dell’Economia e dell’Energia (BMWi) si occupa di rappresentare la Germania in quanto meta turistica, e a questo scopo il Parlamento tedesco ne ha decretato il finanziamento da parte del Ministero. L'ENGT sviluppa e diffonde strategie e prodotti per estendere ulteriormente l'immagine positiva delle destinazioni turistiche tedesche all'estero e per promuovere i flussi turistici verso la Germania, avvalendosi anche delle sue 30 sedi di rappresentanza a livello mondiale. Per maggiori informazioni visitate il nostro centro stampa online all'indirizzo www.germany.travel/presse.