The 2006 FIFA World Cup is a major advertising effort for Germany and offers a sustained chance for tourism in Germany. Going by the experiences of the 2000 European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands, when an average of 1.7 overnight stays were booked per ticket sold, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is forecasting an additional five million or so overnight stays by Germans and visitors from abroad before, during and after the World Cup. They will add an additional 1.7 per cent to growth. The figures also take into account the large number of fans without tickets expected in the towns and cities where public viewing screens are provided. Overall the GNTB expects about a million visitors from abroad staying for one day or longer.
The estimated global TV audience of 30 to 40 billion, whose eyes will be firmly fixed on Germany during the World Cup represents a tremendous potential for the German Travel Industry. As a global quality brand and massive media platform, the 2006 FIFA World Cup is able to open the door to international markets and increase travel to Germany. “We are exploiting this huge media interest to permanently enhance the image of Germany around the world as a diverse and welcoming travel destination, which will continue to appeal long after the tournament has finished”, said Ms. Heike Murad, GCC Manager States, The German National Tourist Board.
As a conference and congress venue, Germany will also benefit from the World Cup in the same way that Australia did from the Olympic Games in Sydney. Australia as a whole increased its market share in the conference and congress segment from 3.6% in 1999 to 4.9% in 2000, the year the Olympics took place.
The German travel industry will not be the only beneficiary of this great sporting event. Massive private and public-sector investment in the sports, transport, communications and accommodation infrastructure, as well as the money spent by fans traveling to Germany, will stimulate overall economic growth. The World Cup is set to contribute in the region of two billion euros to Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2006, which represents GDP growth of about 0.2 percentage points. This boost is also expected to create additional value of about a billion euros in 2007 and 2008. It is possible that from 2006 to 2008, visitors from abroad could contribute up to one billion euros in extra consumer spending as a result of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
As well as building new arenas and modernizing existing ones for the tournament, a number of autobahns around the FIFA World Cup Host Cities have been widened, or are in the process of being widened, mostly to three lanes, and new junctions have been added. Sophisticated traffic management systems are in place to optimize the flow of city traffic. Deutsche Bahn railways and local transport companies are undertaking a series of improvement programs, such as upgrading the stations at the venues to enable visitors to pass through quickly and comfortably.
About the German National Tourism Board (GNTB)
The GNTB is a provider of marketing services for the German tourism industry. With It’s Headquarters based in Frankfurt, the GNTB has 30 foreign representative offices around the world. The GNTB aims to enhance the positive image of Germany as a travel destination and increase the volume of tourist traffic to and within Germany. The GNTB brings together the tourism partners through road shows in foreign markets together with German partners from the tourism industry. In addition, the GNTB has its own Trade fair which is the Germany Travel Mart. The GTM is an annual event aimed to offer important information about the services and products offered by the German travel industry. GNTB has developed marketing strategies and concepts based on specific themes, events and attractions for 2006: “2006 FIFA World Cup Germany”, “Shopping – Made in Germany” and “The Mozart Year”. The number of visitors to Germany from the Arab Gulf States has been steadily growing for many years. In 2005, the number of overnight stays from this region increased by 26, 7% and January to February 2006, shows a 22, 5% increase in growth rate.
About FIFA World Cup 2006TM
32 national teams will battle for the FIFA World Cup in 12 cities in Germany starting 9th June-9th July, 2006. For more detailed and up to date information on admission prices go to www.fifaworldcup.com
The 12 FIFA World Cup Host Cities are well prepared:
Hamburg 50,000 seats
Hanover 45, 000 seats
Berlin 74,500 seats
Dortmund 67,000 seats
Gelsenkirchen 51,000 seats
Cologne 41,000 seats
Leipzig 42,655 seats
Frankfurt 48,000 seats
Kaiserslautern 48,500 seats
Stuttgart 54,500 seats
Nuremberg 45,500 seats
Munich 66,000 seats
