Romanian tourists recorded over one million overnight stays (including camping) in 2022, thus exceeding by almost 6% the level recorded in 2019, the best tourist year for the pre-pandemic period. Only three countries in the region saw increases in overnight stays in Germany in 2022 compared to 2019, namely Slovakia, Romania and Croatia. More precisely, in 2022 Romanians had 1.212.772 overnight stays, and in 2019 they had 1.146.698 overnight stays in accommodation units in Germany. In the top of foreign travel destination preferences, Germany ranks third for Romanians, being surpassed only by Italy and Greece.
Romanians travel more and more to Germany
"Germany, as a travel destination, offers Romanians a safe, organized and high-quality alternative to spend their holidays, all the more so since in the last six years it has ranked 1st in the image ranking of the Nation Brands Index. In addition, travel offers focused on ecological and sustainable tourism, as well as very good accessibility, are highly appreciated by Romanians.” explains Cristian Sallai, director of the German Organization for Tourism in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.
With the help of the German National Tourist Board's themed communication campaigns for this year, Germany aims to strengthen its status as the number one cultural destination for Europeans traveling from around the world (source: IPK 2023: WTM 2022). Thus, the German Tourism Organization extends its commitment to position Germany as a sustainable destination with a wide range of UNESCO World Heritage sites that are of inestimable international value.
51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Starting in April, the new global campaign "51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites" drew the attention of potential tourists to Germany to its unique cultural values and natural landscapes, combined with a well-developed public transport network. UNESCO World Heritage Sites represent a high quality standard for the protection of monuments and the maintenance of customs and traditions. With a total of 51 UNESCO World Heritage sites, Germany is number three in the world and therefore one of the countries with the highest density of natural and cultural sites.
Petra Hedorfer, President of the Board of Directors of the German Tourism Organization: "The 51 UNESCO World Heritage sites aim far beyond the horizon of the multiple crises we are currently experiencing. They represent new beginnings and embody the idea of a united Europe in a unique way. To this day, we can draw inspiration for new designs from this special spirit of world heritage. As for potential travelers to Germany, the Destination Brand 2021 study demonstrates a strong link between affinity for sustainable travel and interest in cultural experiences. With this in mind, we designed the campaign in such a way as to inspire people to experience Germany's UNESCO World Heritage sites with an environmentally friendly travel behaviour.”
The campaign promotes the discovery of the 51 world heritage sites in the seven categories: "Castles and Palaces", "Cultural History", "Nature and Gardens", "Industrial Culture", "Architecture and Design", "Churches and Monasteries" and " Historic cities".
The central element of the campaign are the eight themed routes that combine sustainable travel to world heritage sites with the emotional experiences that can be had by traveling these routes, while also inspiring tourists to plan longer stays. Offering several themed points of interest along the route, travelers can also discover regions of Germany that are less frequented by tourists. Suggestions for eight to twelve day trips contain detailed travel tips, maps and links to sustainable travel experiences from each microsites.
They are both sources of inspiration and practical guides for individual travel planning. The routes are designed in such a way that they can be easily traveled by public transport. For Romanians, the cultural aspects in combination with the wealth of nature are the most important reasons for traveling to Germany.
These are also supported by the other two campaigns of the German National Tourist Office from 2023 with the focus on "green tourism". Firstly, the sustainability campaign "Feel Good" promotes environmentally friendly offers focused on eco-tourism, and on the other hand, the "Embrace German Nature" campaign showcases the diversity and uniqueness of Germany's natural landscapes. At the same time, the message of the two campaigns is the fact that you don't need a lot of resources to be able to enjoy Germany's tourist offer, you just need to hit the road and feel good.