German National Tourist Board intensifies activities on the Indian market #NextStepsAsia

India's importance as a source market for international tourism is growing. According to analyses by Skift India, spending on international travel grew by 17% annually between 2008 and 2019, four times faster than global tourism as a whole. For 2027, Skift forecasts further growth of 230% compared to 2019. This puts India in the top 5 source markets for global tourism.

In order to continue participating in the rapid growth of the Indian outbound market, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is systematically expanding its market activities on the subcontinent. At a press conference in New Delhi today, Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB, explained the strategic approaches to future market development in India: “We have been working the Indian market with a sales agency for two decades. In 2015, we initiated an India pool for the first time, which has been extremely successful in supporting the activities of German partners in India. The number of overnight stays by Indian guests in Germany rose by almost 40 percent from 693,000 to 962,000 by 2019. With a new edition of the India Pool and market-specific activities, we are building bridges between the demand from Indian travelers and the tourism offering in Germany. In view of the changing conditions - especially technological developments - we are also organizing a high-profile delegation trip with top managers from the German travel industry next spring with the GNTB India Digital Travel Knowledge Tour.”

Increasing importance of India as a source market for German inbound tourism

The flow of travelers from India to Germany has been growing steadily for many years. After the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Indian guests generated 826,000 overnight stays in hotels and guesthouses in 2023 - an increase of 33% compared to 2022.

With a recovery rate of 86%, the Indian market is recovering much faster from the Covid pandemic than all other Asian countries. Tourism Economics forecasts 1.6 million overnight stays from India in Germany every year by the end of the decade. The Indian market is also promising in terms of value creation. According to IPK International, the total turnover of all Indian tourists in Germany in 2023 was 900 million euros.

DZT India Digital Travel Knowledge Tour - 04. bis 09. Mai 2025

Technological innovation and networking with the international travel industry are the central themes of the delegation trip. CEOs from the German travel industry will meet forward-looking Indian tech and travel companies in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. They will gain valuable insights into the specific needs of the Indian target group and current trends that are characterized by the rapid digital transformation in the market. At the same time, there are opportunities to initiate collaborations with leading Indian market players in order to tap into the full potential of this dynamic market for German inbound tourism.

Special campaigns for the Indian market

With the 'Live like a local' project, Indian influencers immerse themselves directly in the local customs and traditions of various regions in Germany and share their authentic impressions with a wide reach on their social media channels. The project takes up the high digital competence of Indian tourists with an interactive personalized travel guide that combines interactive map material with the points of interest from the user's profile.

Germany offers numerous hotspots and romantic locations for the lavishly organized events of Indian wedding parties. The GNTB is targeting this specific group with a special wedding campaign.

GNTB India-Pool 2025

The GNTB is launching an India Pool for the second time in 2025 to bundle its market development efforts in India. The GNTB is investing in the Indian market together with the German travel industry, which is predominantly made up of SMEs, in order to increase brand awareness of Germany as a travel destination and thus tap into the market potential even more effectively.

About the GNTO, India

The German National Tourist Office (GNTO), India represented by Airplus Travel Services Pvt Ltd is the official representative office of the German National Tourist Board. With its inception in 2011, the GNTO is based in New Delhi to facilitate, strategize and implement the goals outlined by the German National Tourist Board to enhance the positive image of Destination Germany.

About the GNTB

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. Working closely with the German travel industry and private-sector partners and trade associations, the GNTB develops strategies and marketing campaigns to promote Germany’s positive image abroad as a travel destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country.

The GNTB’s primary strategic areas of action are:

Conducting targeted market research and analysis of market-specific customer demand in relation to various aspects of travel in the context of sustainability and culture among those with values-based lifestyles.

Supporting the travel industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, through relationship management and the sharing of knowledge.

Raising awareness of the Destination Germany brand and enhancing the brand profile with a focus on sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Focus on sustainability and digitalisation

The GNTB promotes forward-looking tourism in line with the objectives of the German government. The focus here is on sustainability and digitalisation.

To make inbound tourism more sustainable and competitive, our organisation follows a three-pillar strategy that combines the sharing of knowledge with external partners and a supporting communications strategy with our internal sustainability initiative. The GNTB positions Germany as a sustainable and inclusive destination in the international travel market.

The GNTB is a pioneer when it comes to using immersive technologies (virtual, augmented and mixed reality), voice assistants and other conversational interfaces, and artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots. To ensure that tourism offerings are visible on AI-based marketing platforms, the GNTB coordinates the German tourism industry’s open-data/knowledge graph project.

The GNTB has 25 foreign agencies that it manages from its head office in Frankfurt.