A snapshot of Germany

 

Now that we have entered into this new phase, in which the European Union Member States will have to work together, from time to time you might wonder about what policy all Member States are actually still pursuing. This is why I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the countries one by one by perusing news of symbolic importance or at least some developments of note.

From fairs to national offers

From 7 to 11 of next March, European tourism professionals will gather at the ITB in Berlin. However, this get-together is not just for professionals: the final two days are open to all. Given the industrial concerns, it cannot be expected that the fair website’s homepage should display too much information. Sun, surf, islands, deserts, pyramids and minarets, Greek temples and Roman ruins are in vogue, as they have been for a number of years. 170,000 visitors are expected; in other words, a vast world in which, with no point of reference and no help, a particular offer can disappear in the crowd, even more so than in Madrid or Milan.

“Travel & Tourism accounts for 258 million jobs globally. At US$6 trillion (9.1% of GDP) the sector is a key driver for investment and economic growth and at a global level. It is larger than the automotive industry at 8% GDP, and just smaller than banking at 11%. Our key challenge in the industry is to stimulate jobs and investment, eliminating barriers to travel such as visa restrictions, taxation, and outmoded infrastructure systems. I am confident that these issues will be addressed at Europe’s premier travel trade fair - ITB Berlin. It is the key place to learn about new trends, market developments, and to deepen existing business relations”, David Scowsill, Chair and CEO of the World travel & Tourism Council, stated at the start. It is indeed a global reality which has led to advice and seminars springing up online. All business, in other words."

However, in amongst all these larger markets – exotic, cruises, B2B and convention tourism – there are still niches for cultural tourism. Dialogue has by no means been explored at any great length, nor has the subject been fixed, but the space is there:

“For a growing number of people culture represents a main motivation for their holiday decision. Therefore, cities and regions increasingly use the possibility to highlight their cultural offers to draw tourists also during low season to their destinations. Cultural tourism plays a decisive role to increase the touristic capacity utilisation. ITB Berlin is also taking this topic into account. Therefore, national as well as international exhibitors present their services and products of this particular segment to the public and trade visitors in hall 10.2.” Furthermore, environmental issues and demands have done more than just break the surface; they are an unavoidable necessity. But are they a genuine market segment, or just marketing?

 ““ECOtourism stands for a touristic reorientation. It centers travel products which make a contribution to the protection of the environment and to the well-being of the guest population. Qualitative high-value journeys which allow sensual nature experiences and a personal insight into the culture of the guest country. ECOtourism offers an international panel and an advertising platform for products, offers, and concepts that target a sustainable development in tourism.”

But let’s get back to destination Germany. The least we can say is that the state is optimistic:

 “In 2011, Germany beat its record from the previous year, registering 63.6 million overnight stays by foreign tourists. With 330.3 million overnight stays made by German tourists, Germany remains the destination of choice for the German population. We hope to surpass 400 million nights”, declared Ernst Burgbacher, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology, who is responsible for the middle classes and tourism. Pétra Hedorfer, director of the National Office, added, “Thus in 2011, with a growth of approximately 5%, Germany was the second-choice destination for Europeans, just behind Spain (approximately 10%). According to the provisional data of IPK, this result widens the gap between Germany and France (approximately 2%). In the spirit of European harmony, France has been warned."

Aptly, the French language National Tourist Office’s website is adorned with the colours of culture and nature and even has a blog specifically for presenting news on culture and museums. I advise you all to visit it regularly. Along with the CIDAL website and information which I regularly post on my Facebook profile, it is a good way to stay up-to-date with cultural news, particularly if you base your travels on events. Explore it, and use it to research towns and sites. You might ask yourself whether or not the website is more for promoting heritage than for practical tourist uses. You come understand its reserve and generalist mindset when you realise that the Germany’s Federal States are in charge of their own tourist policy. This means that you must explore region-by-region to find the specifics. This we will not neglect to do in the coming months, in relation to the events which take place.

 

Eifel National Park

 

Heritage taking centre stage

It should come as no surprise, then, that until 15 March the Tourist Office, in this federal mentality, is conducting a survey with a view to pinpointing the 100 most popular tourist websites for foreign visitors to Germany. This survey is available in 26 languages on the tourist office’s website and on Facebook. The results are going to be used to develop a smartphone app.

Additionally, since 28 February, the Federal Foreign Office has been hosting an exposition entitled Welterbe in Deutschland, which displays the beauty and diversity of the German sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is part of the celebrations being held to mark the 40th anniversary of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. “Preserving culture and conserving world heritage forges cultural identity”, as Cornelia Pieper, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, stated when she inaugurated the exposition, which will be open to the public from 10am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, until 13 April 2012.

 

Crossing paths

What else? Since the European Commission has stressed the relevance of the website set up by the European TravelCommission, I shall not neglect to take a look at the way in which destinations are presented on it. 

“Germany has so many things for you to discover. You can discover the treasures of its culture and the riches of its modernity, with ease, all year round. Germany’s landscape is as diverse as any other country in the world. From the stupefying alpine mountain ranges – including the Zugspitze which, at 2,962 metres, is the highest summit in Germany – which provide the ideal environment for hikers in summer and skiers and snowboarders in winter, to the 38 kilometres of immaculate, golden beaches on the island of Sylt and Wattenmeer National Park to the north. Or still the Black Forest which not only nourishes the wildlife and sweet-smelling plant life, but feeds the myths and legends of fairies and pixies which reside there. The great German cities never fail to enchanter their inquisitive guests.” I shall leave it to the readers to gauge the relevance of this testimony and inventiveness of its style.

 

If you want to find out more, make a beeline for the websites of the Federal States and do not forget to take a look at what the cultural routes which cross through Germany have to offer you.

There are three routes, the organisation of which began in Germany and benefit from management in the country, but nevertheless involve between five and ten European countries. These represent excellent testaments to the existence of a genuine link between heritage, culture and the tourist economy. These are the route of Brick Gothic, connected in large part with the Hanseatic towns, the route of Baltic fortresses and finally the route of historic theatres.

The Margravial Opera House

Of course, do not forget to visit thewebsites of the cultural routes recognised by the Council of Europe, some of which, as well as their remarkable symbolic power and the European citizenship initiatives they have implemented, provide tourist offers. We will cover that in more depth another time. 

The principal routes in question are the Via Regia; Transromanica, which incorporates genuine alternative tourist offers, for cycling in particular; the route of Hanseatic towns, which has a broad range of offers, and naturally walking routes, such as the ways to Santiago de Compostela and, more recently established, the journey from northern Germany to Trondheim on the Routes of Saint Olav.

The church at Jerichow – Route of Romanesque Art, Saxony-Anhalt

 

Memory at the heart of it

The routes are wide open. I have been traditional and focused on heritage, for our watchword of federalism lies within it… but there are plenty of innovative alternatives: anyone and everyone can cycle the paths along the Elbe, taking in the industrial areas of steel production and mining. Here, festivals have been organised, inside large factory buildings, no less. I have not even mentioned the Bauhaus sites nor the historical and contemporary gardens connected by a route of dreams… the Gartentraüme.

In essence, this country has only recently been unified. The Via Regia project, a great thoroughfare which begins in Ukraine, makes a fabulous contribution to answering the call to recover memories, work which is going on every day as much through reconstructions as through expositions or centres displaying archives of the most recent history: the eras of Nazism and Communism. A city such as Weimar, with its connection to Buchenwald, is as symbolic as unified Berlin. Tourism of memory, much like tourism of roots, with its research into emigration locations, is an area on which towns and associations have capitalised.

Hundertwasser Building in Magdeburg

Culture, did you say culture?  

“Nothing distorts the image of Goethe so perfidiously as the serene picture commonly drawn of him (in France at least). This sort of supreme happiness, remaining impassive and smiling in an area inaccessible to the storms, is not him. His spinozism does not go so far as to strangle his passions. On the contrary, he rather abandons himself to each one, learns from them, and only looks to free himself from them when they have nothing more to teach him. His goal, as if he had any other than living life as much as possible, is culture, not happiness.” Words from André Gide.

Translation: Alistair Cowie