Germany's tourism industry can once again report a significant increase in international demand. This corresponds directly with the latest studies on Germany's global brand image. This is the result of recent analyses by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). 

Site Minder's World Hotel Index registers a share of foreign guests in bookings of German hotels of 30.8 percent across 400 global hotel booking channels for October 2021. According to this, the incoming share on these reservation channels has reached the pre-crisis level again. 

The world's leading market research company Ipsos also announced today that Germany has once again taken the top spot in the renowned Anholt Ipsos Nation Brands Index (NBI) 2021. It is followed in second and third place by Canada (70.64 points) and Japan (70.52 points). Since 2008, Germany has always ranked among the TOP 3 in the NBI, and in 2021 it placed number one for the seventh time. 

Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB's Executive Board, said, "The latest news demonstrates the direct link between Germany's excellent reputation, growing willingness to travel in our core markets, our countercyclical marketing activities and a successful recovery strategy for restarting incoming tourism, as well as positioning Germany as a travel destination in the increasingly fierce competition among destinations." 

NBI confirms Germany's first place for brand image in global comparison 

In the overall NBI 2021 ranking, Germany received 71.06 points, 1.94 more than the previous year and also the highest average score measured in the history of the NBI. 

Germany is ranked in the top 10 in five of the six sub-indices that make up the NBI: Exports, Government, Culture, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. In the tourism segment, survey participants rate Germany at 73.24 points, 2.65 points better than in the previous year, which is 10th place in the global ranking. In the subcategories on tourism location, "Historic Buildings" and "Vibrant Cities" in particular enjoy above-average esteem, ranking 7th in both categories. 

In addition to the general image comparison, the NBI identifies the five most pressing global tasks according to the respondents. According to the survey, the most important issue in 2021 is the protection of the environment and natural resources, followed by poverty reduction, improving living conditions and quality of life, dealing with health crises and protecting human rights. In the global comparison of the solution concepts for these tasks, Germany is in second place and under the aspect of health management it is in first place. 

For the NBI 2021, more than 60,000 population-representative interviews were conducted with people aged 18 and older in 20 countries between July 6 and August 13, 2021. 

Market indicators for the restart of incoming tourism 

According to Forward Keys, international flight arrivals in Germany rose to about a quarter of 2019 levels by July 2021 and by August and September 2021 they returned to about a third of pre-crisis levels. 

Sales of international train tickets to Germany through Deutsche Bahn's e-commerce sales channels were 37.0 percent from January through July 2021, 41.5 percent through August, and 44.3 percent through September 2021 compared to 2019 sales. 

MKG Consulting puts hotel occupancy (based on domestic and foreign guests) at 52.2 percent in the last week of July, rising to 54.1 percent at the end of August and 56.2 percent at the end of September compared to pre-Corona numbers.