Riding on a successful 2023 where it recorded a 32 pc increase in overnight stays by Indian travellers, Germany is now seeking to reach 1 million overnight stays by Indians in 2024, driven by a series of high-profile events, starting with EURO2024 football championship.

Germany recorded about 830,000 overnight stays by Indian visitors in 2023, an increase of 32.6 pc compared to the previous year and is now targetting 1 million overnight stays in 2024, says Romit Theophilus, Director, German National Tourist Office (GNTO) India.

Addressing a press conference, held in association with the Embassy of Germany in India, Theophilus said that the growth in Indian traffic to Germany has come in equal parts from business and leisure travel and that over the years, Germany has emerged as a preferred leisure destination as well, a major shift from a few years ago when it was seen essentially as a business destination.

Theophilus told the media that the year 2024 had a major line up of activities and events that should propel tourism from around the world, including India. First off. Is EURO2024, a European football championship that is being held in Germany this year. With rising popularity of football in India, Theophilus said that even those who could not get tickets to watch the matches in the stadia, can enjoy the ambience of the festivities that are being organised all over Germany during the month-long competition that starts on June 14.

Beyond EURO2024, Theophilus added, there is rising demand in India for high-profile festivals like Oktoberfest in Munich later this year and 2024 also marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall, which led to reunification of Germany in 1989. Theophilus added that with a series of activities planned around this historic moment, GNTO was confident of attracting tourists from India as well to join the festivities.
“Besides rising leisure traffic, another significant change that we have seen in India is that Indian visitors are now staying much longer in Germany and it has risen from three nights to five nights and now even to seven nights,’’ Theophilus says.

At the press conference, Georg Enzweiler, Deputy Chief of Mission of the German Embassy said that with the recent modification in Schengen zone visa rules, which make it easier for repeat Indian travellers to obtain longer-term multi-entry visas, tourism numbers from India to Germany should also receive a significant boost.