- GCC visitors grew by 1.2% in 2024 and have increased by 21% since 2022
- Germany recorded over 1.2 million overnight stays by GCC visitors in 2024
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 28 April 2025: The German National Tourist Office GCC (GNTO GCC) announced today (Monday, 28th April) that GCC visitors to Germany have grown steadily to over 489,689 in 2024, a steady year-on-year increase of 1.2% and an impressive 21% increase when compared with the total visitor numbers in 2022.
The announcement was made during a press conference, which was held on the opening day of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025.
Yamina Sofo, Director at the German National Tourist Office GCC (GNTO GCC), an affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), commented, “We have now witnessed considerable growth in visitor numbers from the GCC countries since the end of the pandemic.
“These figures underscore Germany’s increasing post pandemic popularity with GCC visitors and bodes well for 2025. With direct flights from the GCC countries to Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hannover, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hamburg, this year we want to encourage GCC residents to visit Germany and experience our diverse year-round tourism offering.”
Luis Monreal, Senior Director Sales Middle East Lufthansa Group Airlines, commented: “Lufthansa Group is proud to team up this year with the DZT as their official carrier. We connect the GCC with Germany nonstop since 1960 with its flights to Saudi Arabia. Lufthansa and Eurowings offer both to our passengers German hospitality already on board. Lufthansa, as a premium carrier, offers stable and year-round connections to Frankfurt and Munich from Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam. Our value-airline Eurowings is expanding substantially since 2023 in the GCC by offering more direct connections to other German such as Berlin, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hanover. They meet their GCC customers much closer to their homes as they offer departures also from Dubai World, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah. The strong increase in demand for these new routes show that we cater to the need to reach different cities in all parts of Germany. Starting from October 2025, the Lufthansa Group airlines will offer over 120 connections per week between the GCC and Germany.
The comfort and travel experience with the Lufthansa Group airlines starts already while booking the ticket via our award-winning apps, that accompany each passenger during the whole trip.”
In addition to connectivity, the GNTB has also unveiled a series of marketing campaigns and special themes.
Cultureland Germany, as the name suggests, highlights Germany’s vibrant and diverse cultural scene, from art, to design, or music, Germany offers a wealth of interesting places of cultural and historical significance for GCC tourists to visit.
This includes Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture for 2025, which is located in the Saxony region of the country. 2025 also marks the 275th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death, with dozens of events lined up to commemorate his life and music.
Embrace German Nature is promoting its three UNESCO natural world Heritage Sites, 16 UNESCO biosphere reserves, 16 national parks and 104 nature parks, all of which can be easily explored along hiking routes and cycle paths.
The GNTB’s Simply Feel Good – Sustainable Travel in Germany campaign is focused on Germany’s natural landscapes, raising awareness of the fragility of ecosystems. Germany has 20 sustainably certified regions and cities with over 1,540 sustainably certified accommodation establishments and 350 spa and health resorts.
One special theme this year, celebrating its 50th anniversary, is the German Fairy Tale Route. Spanning 600 km from Hanau to Bremen, this scenic route connects around 70 locations, including Rapunzel’s tower and the castle where Sleeping Beauty slept for 100 years, bringing fairy tales to life.
Additionally, Germany’s digitalisation campaign, featuring Emma – the new state-of-the-art AI travel companion – shines a spotlight on the country’s top destinations through innovative travel experiences. The #EmmaTravelsGermany initiative seamlessly blends technology with culture, positioning Germany as a must-visit destination for modern travelers.
The Germany stand at ATM is significantly larger this year with 27 co-exhibitors/participants covering 135 square metres and is located in the Europe Hall, Stand number EU5150. ATM 2025 takes place from 28th April to 1st May.
About the GNTB
The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. Working closely with the German travel industry and private-sector partners and trade associations, the GNTB develops strategies and marketing campaigns to promote Germany’s positive image abroad as a travel destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country.
The GNTB’s primary strategic areas of action are:
- Conducting targeted market research and analysis of market-specific customer demand in relation to various aspects of travel in the context of sustainability and culture among those with values-based lifestyles.
- Supporting the travel industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, through relationship management and the sharing of knowledge.
- Raising awareness of the Destination Germany brand and enhancing the brand profile with a focus on sustainability and climate change mitigation.
Focus on sustainability and digitalisation
The GNTB promotes forward-looking tourism in line with the objectives of the German government. The focus here is on sustainability and digitalisation.
To make inbound tourism more sustainable and competitive, our organisation follows a three-pillar strategy that combines the sharing of knowledge with external partners and a supporting communications strategy with our internal sustainability initiative. The GNTB positions Germany as a sustainable and inclusive destination in the international travel market.
The GNTB is a pioneer when it comes to using immersive technologies (virtual, augmented and mixed reality), voice assistants and other conversational interfaces, and artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots. To ensure that tourism offerings are visible on AI-based marketing platforms, the GNTB coordinates the German tourism industry’s open-data/knowledge graph project.
The GNTB has 19 foreign agencies that it manages from its head office in Frankfurt.
About Lufthansa Group:
The Lufthansa Group is an aviation group with operations worldwide. It plays a leading role in its European home market. With 101,709 employees, the Lufthansa Group generated revenue of EUR 37,581m in the financial year 2024.
The Lufthansa Group consists of the business segments Passenger Airlines, Logistics, MRO and Additional Businesses. The Passenger Airlines business segment includes, on the one hand, the network airlines Lufthansa Airlines, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines. As part of a multi-hub strategy, they offer their passengers a broad range of flights from their hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels. Lufthansa Airlines also has close relationships with the regional airlines Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa City Airlines and Air Dolomiti as well as Discover Airlines, the Lufthansa Group’s holiday airline. Edelweiss, the leading Swiss holiday airline, has a close relationship with SWISS.
Eurowings also belongs to the Passenger Airlines business segment. This airline provides a comprehensive range of point-to-point connections for short- and medium-haul destinations, in particular from German-speaking countries.
