New official numbers confirm not only that the popularity of Germany is continuously on the rise among international travellers but all the data and projections point to medical travel as the real “rising star” of the tourist industry.
According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, the number of overnight stays by visitors from abroad in the period from January to March 2012 rose by over 10% compared with the same period in 2011. Overall, almost 12.3 million overnight stays by international visitors were recorded between the start of the year and the end of March, with significant increases in the major source markets.
Among these markets, a special position is occupied by the GCCregion, whose nationals are increasingly heading to Germany to benefit from the outstanding quality of the medical sector. For the first time, the mark of one million overnight stays by travellers from the Arabian Gulf region was outdone in 2011. Yet, during the first three months of 2012 a further increase of 15.5% was registered as compared to the previous year, with 185.074 overnight stays by GCC travellers from January to March 2012 against the 160.237 overnight stays during the same trimester of 2011.
According to all the estimations, an expanding share of international patients is expected to visit Germany for health reasons in the coming years. Figures from the German Federal Statistical Office and the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences indicate that treatments were provided to over 77,000 inpatients from 178 countries in 2010, nearly 10% more than in the previous year. For the Euro Canada Consumer Index, the German healthcare system occupies the second place in Europe and ranks among the most progressive and innovative healthcare systems in the world.
“Health is a tourism megatrend with one of the global fastest growth; its increase in value sales is expected to reach 5.5% yearly in the period from 2010 to 2015,” said Antje Roeding-Boudier, Director of the Marketing & Sales Office for the Gulf Countries at the German National Tourist Office (GNTO) in Dubai, the local affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB)for the GCC countries.
“Given the unparalleled level of collaboration between science, research, industry and hospitalsas well as the provided high level in medical infrastructures, staff and technologies, the medical sector in Germany enjoys an outstanding reputation, with patients arriving from all over the world,” she continued.
The Arab Gulf States are among the main source markets, also according to the records of hospitals and clinics across Germany. Hospital discharged statistics show that German hospitals treated nearly 4,200 from the Arab Gulf States in 2010. These guests choose Germany not only because of its excellence in the medical sector but also for the several specialised services offered by the medical structures to international patients.
As medical travel represents a global success story for the GNTB,a cross-media campaign centred on this theme was initiated in 2011 to further raise the profile of Germany as international destination for health related tourism. Part of this campaign is the print and online version of the brochure ‘Medical Travel’ available in Arabic and other 26 languages. The content of the e-brochure is available at germany.travel/medizin, the special section of GNTB’s official website dedicated to health related tourism. In addition, after many successful events carried out across the GCC countries under the ‘Medical Travel’ theme year in 2011, the GNTO will organize new initiatives, directly engaging the travel industry in the region. Therefore, medical workshops featuring different activities centred on health related travel will be held in Kuwait City, Doha and Abu Dhabi between 30 September and 2 October 2012.
source: http://www.ameinfo.com / Home> News> Company News> G: GNTB / posted by Rana Mesbah / June 21st, 2012
