Germany sees 8.8% rise in travellers from Gulf

Dubai: Around 724,721 tourists from the Gulf travelled to Germany in 2007, an 8.8 per cent increase over 2006.

Antje Roeding, director of Gulf countries at the German National Tourist Office, said historically relations between the country and the Gulf have been strong and Germany has learnt how to cater to Middle East visitors over time.

"In Munich, for example, we have Arabic speaking personnel and hotels in the major cities have halal food and prayer mats available," said Roeding.

Places like Baden-Baden, a well known spa resort, are very popular among Middle Eastern tourists as the climate is much cooler.

"Also, German cities are cheaper than other European cities, which gives good value to tourists," said Roeding.

According to data from the German National Tour-ist Office, hotels in Munich average around 114 euros per night, while in London the average is 192 euros and in Paris 217 euros.

Of the 724,721 Gulf tourists, 45 per cent came from Saudi Arabia, 33 per cent from the UAE and 20 per cent from Kuwait.

The Gulf remains among the top 20 most important source markets for German tourism.

Latest figures show that in 2007, 60.5 billion euros was spent on travel and tourism in Germany, representing a three per cent increase from 2006.

The travel and tourism sector in 2007, generated around 26.3 billion euros, a one per cent increase from 2006. "We expect the number in 2008 to increase at around the same rate as last year," said Roeding.

Austria

Similarly, Austria experienced 20 per cent growth in Middle Eastern visitors with around 97,000 staying overnight.

Klaus Ehrenbrandtner, director of Middle East for the Austrian National Tourist Office, said: "The most part is from the Gulf and that's also where the most growth is.

"People in the Gulf have specific ideas about what they want from their holidays and in Austria they can escape the heat and stay in a mountain climate."

Ehrenbrandtner said he expects the number of Middle Eastern tourists to increase again this year as the number of Austrian destinations increases.

There are three main destinations in Austria: Vienna, Salzburg and Zell Am See. But in the last three years, there have been a couple of destinations that are becoming popular.