In the first six months of 2017, Munich Airport posted the best half-yearly figures in its history: with the 21 million passengers handled during that period, the airport topped the 20 million mark for the first time.
That number matches the full-year figure for 1999, and convincingly demonstrates the powerful growth dynamic achieved by Bavaria's international hub.
In relative terms, passenger traffic was up by around 6 percent as compared with the same period in 2016. As in the previous year, the airport again saw a 4 percent increase in total take-offs and landings to approximately 200,000.
The freight segment also reported a new all-time high, with a 9 percent year-on-year increase in cargo turnover to approximately 180,000 tons.
With the substantial traffic increases, Munich Airport outpaced the industry as a whole in Germany – largely on the strength of a strong performance by the European traffic segment, which showed an impressive 8 percent year-on-year increase in total passengers. Meanwhile, passenger traffic in the intercontinental segment and on domestic routes was up by 6 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Today, 25 years after it opened, Munich Airport is indeed looking stronger than ever before,said Dr. Michael Kerkloh, the airport's president and CEO, who presented the half-year figures at the Munich Press Club. He also noted the airport's outstanding prospects going forward.
The future outlook has benefited in particular from three key strategic moves by the Lufthansa Group. First: The airline with the distinctive crane logo on the tail will station the first 15 of its 25 new Airbus A350 widebody jets in Munich.
This will yield economic benefits and is also a boon to the environment: In addition to very substantial fuel savings of 25 percent achieved by the A350 as compared with its four-engine predecessor, the Airbus A340, it also has a 50 percent smaller noise footprint on takeoff. Second: When the 2018 summer timetable begins, Lufthansa will have five of its 14 A380 aircraft stationed in Munich for the first time.
Bavaria's hub will join London, Paris and Frankfurt to become the fourth European airport to be home to an A380 fleet. The gigantic Airbus will be used on routes to Hong Kong, Beijing and Los Angeles. Third: Coming as a further boost to Munich's competitiveness is the decision by Eurowings to station aircraft here. Since the start of this year's summer timetable, the airport has been the home base for several Eurowings planes serving around 30 destinations in Europe.
With the foreseeable increases in intercontinental traffic, our high-quality airport will attain a new standard of quality in the coming years. We will then be equally well positioned as a hub across all traffic segments, said CEO Michael Kerkloh.
His final assessment: We're now in the enviable position of being poised to add more chapters to our success story for the next 25 years – in the interests of Bavaria and the people who live here.
Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Showing posts with label tourism in germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tourism in germany. Show all posts
Friday, 7 July 2017
Monday, 3 July 2017
GERMANY: Tourist Coach Rams Into Lorry,18 Feared Dead
Police say they fear a number of people may have died when a bus went up in flames after it crashed into a truck Monday morning in southern Germany, injuring 31 people and leaving 17 others unaccounted for.
"We're afraid that people may have died in the accident," police spokeswoman Irene Brandenstein said.
She said several people were severely injured in the crash near Muenchberg in Bavaria.
Local Oberfranken police tweeted that the travel group came from Saxony in eastern Germany and that a phone number had been activated to provide family members with information.
Police have said that 48 people were believed to be aboard the vehicle – understood to be a tour bus – adding: “The fate of the other passengers is currently the subject of police action on the ground.”
Pictures of the scene show the burnt out shell of the vehicle.
Two drivers and 46 people and were on the bus, Brandenstein said.
German news channel n-tv showed images of the bus which was burned down to a black, smoking skeleton.
A spokesman has told broadcaster n-tv that police expect there to be several fatalities, adding that there was only a “glimmer of hope” some may have escaped the inferno.
Several helicopters and ambulances were on the scene to rescue the injured and the A9 highway was closed in both directions because of the accident.
It is believed that the bus crashed into a truck at the end of a traffic jam as it travelled towards Nuremberg.
Police spokeswoman, Anne Hoefer, said the passengers were “old people” and that some may not have made it out of the bus.
Emergency services and helicopters were on the scene to rescue the injured from the A9 highway, which had been closed because of the accident.
Brandenstein said the bus crashed into the truck at the end of a traffic jam.
She had no information immediately about what happened to the truck driver.
She said she had no information about who was on the bus.
Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com
"We're afraid that people may have died in the accident," police spokeswoman Irene Brandenstein said.
She said several people were severely injured in the crash near Muenchberg in Bavaria.
Local Oberfranken police tweeted that the travel group came from Saxony in eastern Germany and that a phone number had been activated to provide family members with information.
Police have said that 48 people were believed to be aboard the vehicle – understood to be a tour bus – adding: “The fate of the other passengers is currently the subject of police action on the ground.”
Pictures of the scene show the burnt out shell of the vehicle.
Two drivers and 46 people and were on the bus, Brandenstein said.
German news channel n-tv showed images of the bus which was burned down to a black, smoking skeleton.
A spokesman has told broadcaster n-tv that police expect there to be several fatalities, adding that there was only a “glimmer of hope” some may have escaped the inferno.
Several helicopters and ambulances were on the scene to rescue the injured and the A9 highway was closed in both directions because of the accident.
It is believed that the bus crashed into a truck at the end of a traffic jam as it travelled towards Nuremberg.
Police spokeswoman, Anne Hoefer, said the passengers were “old people” and that some may not have made it out of the bus.
Emergency services and helicopters were on the scene to rescue the injured from the A9 highway, which had been closed because of the accident.
Brandenstein said the bus crashed into the truck at the end of a traffic jam.
She had no information immediately about what happened to the truck driver.
She said she had no information about who was on the bus.
Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
GERMANY: More Gulf Medical Tourists Head To Berlin
Berlin wants to attract 10,000 additional tourists from the Arabian Gulf this year, as the city targets travellers seeking medical treatment.
Burkhard Kieker, the chief executive of visitBerlin, the tourism board of the German capital, was in Abu Dhabi to meet government health officials and representatives of local private hospitals to promote the city as a medical tourism destination.
Europe has been suffering due to the security situation for the past one year but we see a strong recovery in the number of tourists from the Gulf, Mr Kieker says.
Last year, Berlin received 50,000 tourists from the Arabian Gulf, of which about 12,000 were medical tourists, making it the second-most popular German city after Munich.
This year, Mr Kieker expects the number of tourists from the Arabian Gulf to grow by 20 per cent and the number of medical tourists to increase by about 30 per cent.
We expect an increase in medical tourists because leading families from the region come to Berlin, it is a city where you can feel safe, it has a large Muslim population, it has great shopping and has around 28 five-star hotels, Mr Kieker said.
There has been heavy investment in the hospitals and clinics, and an increase in Arabic-speaking staff.
The changes in insurance policies in Abu Dhabi that make it more expensive for some Emiratis to seek treatment abroad did not impact the patient numbers to Berlin, according to Mr Kieker.
There has been a rise in the number of self-pay patients to Berlin because they do not want to wait in a line, although the majority of the patients are still government sponsored, he said.
Emiratis and Gulf medical tourists typically seek oncology, urology, cardiology, diabetology and trauma care treatment.
An average Emirati patient can stay anywhere between two weeks and three months,said Nizar Maarouf, the vice director of Vivantes International Medicine, a Berlin-based healthcare group with nine hospitals.
Berlin has about 80 clinics and hospitals such as the Vivantes hospital group and Charite Berlin.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the top countries in the Arabian Gulf region to send medical tourists to Germany, including Berlin.
Etihad flies to Berlin twice daily from Abu Dhabi.
Qatar Airways also connects the UAE capital to Berlin. Emirates is yet to get landing rights in Berlin.
Terrorist attacks in Europe have hurt its tourism sector.
In its annual report, Emirates cited these terror attacks as among the reasons for soft demand to Europe from the region.
Burkhard Kieker, the chief executive of visitBerlin, the tourism board of the German capital, was in Abu Dhabi to meet government health officials and representatives of local private hospitals to promote the city as a medical tourism destination.
Europe has been suffering due to the security situation for the past one year but we see a strong recovery in the number of tourists from the Gulf, Mr Kieker says.
Last year, Berlin received 50,000 tourists from the Arabian Gulf, of which about 12,000 were medical tourists, making it the second-most popular German city after Munich.
This year, Mr Kieker expects the number of tourists from the Arabian Gulf to grow by 20 per cent and the number of medical tourists to increase by about 30 per cent.
We expect an increase in medical tourists because leading families from the region come to Berlin, it is a city where you can feel safe, it has a large Muslim population, it has great shopping and has around 28 five-star hotels, Mr Kieker said.
There has been heavy investment in the hospitals and clinics, and an increase in Arabic-speaking staff.
The changes in insurance policies in Abu Dhabi that make it more expensive for some Emiratis to seek treatment abroad did not impact the patient numbers to Berlin, according to Mr Kieker.
There has been a rise in the number of self-pay patients to Berlin because they do not want to wait in a line, although the majority of the patients are still government sponsored, he said.
Emiratis and Gulf medical tourists typically seek oncology, urology, cardiology, diabetology and trauma care treatment.
An average Emirati patient can stay anywhere between two weeks and three months,said Nizar Maarouf, the vice director of Vivantes International Medicine, a Berlin-based healthcare group with nine hospitals.
Berlin has about 80 clinics and hospitals such as the Vivantes hospital group and Charite Berlin.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the top countries in the Arabian Gulf region to send medical tourists to Germany, including Berlin.
Etihad flies to Berlin twice daily from Abu Dhabi.
Qatar Airways also connects the UAE capital to Berlin. Emirates is yet to get landing rights in Berlin.
Terrorist attacks in Europe have hurt its tourism sector.
In its annual report, Emirates cited these terror attacks as among the reasons for soft demand to Europe from the region.
Monday, 19 June 2017
GERMANY: American Tourist Drowned After Trying To Swim Across Spree River
Berlin police say a 20-year-old American tourist has drowned after trying to swim across a river in the heart of the German capital.
Police spokeswoman Valeska Jakubowski says the man from Texas had jumped into the Spree river early Sunday with a 21-year-old friend.
The older man managed to swim the short distance across the river but the Texan failed to reach the shore.
Two passers-by, including a Danish lifeguard, tried unsuccessfully to save the man. He was recovered by firefighters but later died in hospital.
Jakubowski said Monday that the deceased man is believed to have consumed alcohol and drugs before jumping into the river.
She declined to identify the man, citing German privacy rules.
Police spokeswoman Valeska Jakubowski says the man from Texas had jumped into the Spree river early Sunday with a 21-year-old friend.
The older man managed to swim the short distance across the river but the Texan failed to reach the shore.
Two passers-by, including a Danish lifeguard, tried unsuccessfully to save the man. He was recovered by firefighters but later died in hospital.
Jakubowski said Monday that the deceased man is believed to have consumed alcohol and drugs before jumping into the river.
She declined to identify the man, citing German privacy rules.
Sunday, 11 June 2017
GERMANY: easyJet Flight Diverted To Germany After Pilot Was Informed Of Suspicious Talk By Three Passengers
An easyJet flight to London has made an unscheduled stop in Germany after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board.
Three male passengers have been arrested, Cologne police said in a statement.
The EasyJet flight made an unscheduled stop in Germany after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board.
The plane coming from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana landed at Cologne-Bonn airport at about 6.30pm on Saturday, after passengers reported that the men were talking about "terrorist matters", Cologne police said.
Airport authorities said in a statement that the 151 passengers on board disembarked the plane using emergency slides and were taken to a transit gate where they were checked by police.
Federal police seized a backpack that belonged to one of the men, and exploded it outside of the aircraft, police said. They gave no information on the contents of the backpack and said officials continued to investigate the backpack.
The men continued to be questioned late Saturday evening. Other passengers were also being questioned, police said.
Take-offs and landings were suspended for three hours, causing 10 flights to be diverted to other airports and delays to over a dozen more.
A spokesman for the German federal police said the pilot decided to land the aircraft in Cologne after passengers told airline personnel they had heard the men using words including "bomb" and "explosive".
An EasyJet spokesperson said the captain took the decision to divert the plane as a precaution so additional security checks could be carried out.
In compliance with the local authorities guidance passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed,the spokesperson said.
We plan to operate the flight tomorrow morning and so are providing all passengers with hotel accommodation and refreshments along with regular updates.
We thank passengers for their understanding. The safety of easyJet's passengers and crew is our highest priority.
No comment was immediately available from federal police.
Three male passengers have been arrested, Cologne police said in a statement.
The EasyJet flight made an unscheduled stop in Germany after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board.
The plane coming from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana landed at Cologne-Bonn airport at about 6.30pm on Saturday, after passengers reported that the men were talking about "terrorist matters", Cologne police said.
Airport authorities said in a statement that the 151 passengers on board disembarked the plane using emergency slides and were taken to a transit gate where they were checked by police.
Federal police seized a backpack that belonged to one of the men, and exploded it outside of the aircraft, police said. They gave no information on the contents of the backpack and said officials continued to investigate the backpack.
The men continued to be questioned late Saturday evening. Other passengers were also being questioned, police said.
Take-offs and landings were suspended for three hours, causing 10 flights to be diverted to other airports and delays to over a dozen more.
A spokesman for the German federal police said the pilot decided to land the aircraft in Cologne after passengers told airline personnel they had heard the men using words including "bomb" and "explosive".
An EasyJet spokesperson said the captain took the decision to divert the plane as a precaution so additional security checks could be carried out.
In compliance with the local authorities guidance passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed,the spokesperson said.
We plan to operate the flight tomorrow morning and so are providing all passengers with hotel accommodation and refreshments along with regular updates.
We thank passengers for their understanding. The safety of easyJet's passengers and crew is our highest priority.
No comment was immediately available from federal police.
Monday, 8 May 2017
GERMANY: Martin Luther Celebrations Enhanced For Tourists
The German National Tourist Board hopes to excite Chinese tourists about a major date in history this year — the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther.
Germany will hold various festivities and special exhibitions that are related to Luther and the reformation. For example, the German Historical Museum in Berlin hosts the exhibit The Luther Effect: 500 Years of the Reformation from May 4 to Nov 5.
Visitors can choose from eight Luther Trails that link 42 places where the great reformer lived and worked, such as Leipzig and Dresden. It's convenient to take public transportation to follow the trails.
Li Zhaohui, head of the tourist board's Beijing office, says tourists can enjoy the country's cultural heritage, splendid natural views, delicious food, and wine and beers. Road trips and shopping are also great experiences for visitors.
Overnight stays of overseas tourists in Germany totaled more than 75.2 million from January to November in 2016, up by 1.4 percent for the same period in 2015, according to travel-industry data. That figure includes more than 2.58 million Chinese tourists, up 1.6 percent compared with 2015.
In 2016, the German embassy in China issued about 420,000 Schengen visas, up by 7 percent compared with 2015.
Last year, Germany opened 10 application visa centers in China, boosting the total number of visa centers to 15. The visa centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are also open on Saturdays for the convenience of applicants.
Meanwhile, South African Tourism, which held events in Beijing on Feb 27 and in Shanghai on March 1, will hold its next event in Hong Kong on March 3.
This year it is focusing on the excitement, surprise, joy and awe awaiting Chinese visitors to South Africa.
"We are proud to invite visitors to encounter the jaw-dropping 'Wow!' moments, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and unforgettable adventures found nowhere else in the world," says Bradley Brouwer, the president of the Asia Pacific for South African Tourism.
"South Africa casts a spell because it is not manufactured and mundane but authentically raw and unfiltered, which is exactly what today's travelers seek," he says.
A total of 117,000 Chinese visitors from China visited South Africa last year, representing a 38 percent year-on-year increase.
South Africa offers Chinese visitors compelling experiences combining pristine nature, wildlife, a city lifestyle, affordable luxury and amazing adventures from mountain hiking to shark cage-diving.
To encourage a seamless travel experience for Chinese citizens, South African Tourism has established visa facilitation centers in nine Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Chinese and Bulgarian officials in the Bulgarian capital on April 28 voiced hopes to boost tourism cooperation, promising to make full use of the countries' unique resources.
At the opening of the conference of the "EU-China Tourism Year 2018: New Investment Opportunities for the Tourism Sector in Bulgaria", China's ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou said: "Today's seminar reflects the strong desire of the Bulgarian side to tap its potential, improve its services and expand its market in tourism so as to attract more Chinese tourists."
He says Bulgaria "has rich, unique tourism resources, and the Bulgarian government attaches great importance to the development of the tourism industry".
China also has rich tourism resources, including cultural and natural world heritage, and beautiful scenery, the ambassador says.
Traveling to China will bring huge profits to Bulgarian tourism enterprises, he says.
"The Chinese side sincerely welcomes more Bulgarian friends to China."
Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova says: "I believe that Bulgaria has a huge potential to receive Chinese tourists."
Creating joint tourism products by European countries is one way to attract more Chinese tourists, Angelkova says.
Bulgaria will improve visa policies and examine possibilities for direct flights to and from China, she says.
"The event today signals that Bulgaria is looking at the Chinese market, which is distant but promising," says Teodora Marinska, head of finance and public policies at the European Travel Commission.
In July 2016, the European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared 2018 the EU-China Tourism Year to increase tourism between China and the EU, encourage European enterprises to enter China's booming tourism market and allow more Chinese investment in Europe.
Over 5million Chinese visited Europe last year. But only 10,000 visited Bulgaria, the Chinese ambassador says.
He believes insufficient publicity, difficulties in visa applications and inconvenient transportation between China and Bulgaria were factors behind the slow tourism growth.
Germany will hold various festivities and special exhibitions that are related to Luther and the reformation. For example, the German Historical Museum in Berlin hosts the exhibit The Luther Effect: 500 Years of the Reformation from May 4 to Nov 5.
Visitors can choose from eight Luther Trails that link 42 places where the great reformer lived and worked, such as Leipzig and Dresden. It's convenient to take public transportation to follow the trails.
Li Zhaohui, head of the tourist board's Beijing office, says tourists can enjoy the country's cultural heritage, splendid natural views, delicious food, and wine and beers. Road trips and shopping are also great experiences for visitors.
Overnight stays of overseas tourists in Germany totaled more than 75.2 million from January to November in 2016, up by 1.4 percent for the same period in 2015, according to travel-industry data. That figure includes more than 2.58 million Chinese tourists, up 1.6 percent compared with 2015.
In 2016, the German embassy in China issued about 420,000 Schengen visas, up by 7 percent compared with 2015.
Last year, Germany opened 10 application visa centers in China, boosting the total number of visa centers to 15. The visa centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are also open on Saturdays for the convenience of applicants.
Meanwhile, South African Tourism, which held events in Beijing on Feb 27 and in Shanghai on March 1, will hold its next event in Hong Kong on March 3.
This year it is focusing on the excitement, surprise, joy and awe awaiting Chinese visitors to South Africa.
"We are proud to invite visitors to encounter the jaw-dropping 'Wow!' moments, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and unforgettable adventures found nowhere else in the world," says Bradley Brouwer, the president of the Asia Pacific for South African Tourism.
"South Africa casts a spell because it is not manufactured and mundane but authentically raw and unfiltered, which is exactly what today's travelers seek," he says.
A total of 117,000 Chinese visitors from China visited South Africa last year, representing a 38 percent year-on-year increase.
South Africa offers Chinese visitors compelling experiences combining pristine nature, wildlife, a city lifestyle, affordable luxury and amazing adventures from mountain hiking to shark cage-diving.
To encourage a seamless travel experience for Chinese citizens, South African Tourism has established visa facilitation centers in nine Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Chinese and Bulgarian officials in the Bulgarian capital on April 28 voiced hopes to boost tourism cooperation, promising to make full use of the countries' unique resources.
At the opening of the conference of the "EU-China Tourism Year 2018: New Investment Opportunities for the Tourism Sector in Bulgaria", China's ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou said: "Today's seminar reflects the strong desire of the Bulgarian side to tap its potential, improve its services and expand its market in tourism so as to attract more Chinese tourists."
He says Bulgaria "has rich, unique tourism resources, and the Bulgarian government attaches great importance to the development of the tourism industry".
China also has rich tourism resources, including cultural and natural world heritage, and beautiful scenery, the ambassador says.
Traveling to China will bring huge profits to Bulgarian tourism enterprises, he says.
"The Chinese side sincerely welcomes more Bulgarian friends to China."
Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova says: "I believe that Bulgaria has a huge potential to receive Chinese tourists."
Creating joint tourism products by European countries is one way to attract more Chinese tourists, Angelkova says.
Bulgaria will improve visa policies and examine possibilities for direct flights to and from China, she says.
"The event today signals that Bulgaria is looking at the Chinese market, which is distant but promising," says Teodora Marinska, head of finance and public policies at the European Travel Commission.
In July 2016, the European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared 2018 the EU-China Tourism Year to increase tourism between China and the EU, encourage European enterprises to enter China's booming tourism market and allow more Chinese investment in Europe.
Over 5million Chinese visited Europe last year. But only 10,000 visited Bulgaria, the Chinese ambassador says.
He believes insufficient publicity, difficulties in visa applications and inconvenient transportation between China and Bulgaria were factors behind the slow tourism growth.
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