Berlin, 21 October 2015 More and more guests from Asia are opting for a city trip to Berlin. From January to August 2015, around 313,000 people from the Asian region travelled to the German capital, up 28.3% from the same period the year before. To strengthen this trend, visitBerlin, Deutsche Bahn and Air Berlin will be sharing a stand at ITB Asia being held in Singapore from 21 to 23 October.

Asia: important growth market for Berlin

Berlin hotels registered around 166,000 nights spent by Asian guests this August, an increase of 26.3% compared to August 2014. The number of nights spent by guests from India showed a growth rate of 70.7%; while guests from China spent 48.5% and guests from the Arab Gulf States spent 41.7% more nights in the German capital this August. Other Asian countries with strong growth rates include South Korea (+35.2%) and Taiwan (+105.5%).

Shopping: Chinese visitors to Berlin spend the most

Berlin is a popular shopping destination for visitors from abroad; especially Chinese guests use their trip to Berlin for an extensive shopping tour. According to the current study released by Global Blue*, each guest from China spends €588 for each tax-free purchase, while visitors from the Arab Gulf States (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) spend €339 on average. Other leading shoppers are those from Azerbaijan, who spend an average of €494 on each tax-free purchase. In comparison, on average, visitors to Berlin spend a total of €204.70 per day.

New markets in focus: visitBerlin’s marketing activities in Asia

For more than fifteen years, visitBerlin has been active in the Asian market. In addition to ITB Asia, visitBerlin organises numerous marketing campaigns and cooperative efforts on behalf of the German capital, including trade shows, product events, and road shows in a number of Asian nations, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. The visitBerlin website laibolin.com is especially designed for the Chinese market. Berlin has also been marketed on “WeChat”, the Chinese version of WhatsApp, since mid-2014. In addition, native speakers of Chinese working for visitBerlin ensure culturally appropriate information and marketing.

Since September 2015, the German Convention Bureau (GCB) in cooperation with the German National Tourist Board has had its own representative office in China. The visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office also participates in this office in order to take advantage of the growing potential in the Chinese market to use Berlin as a location for conferences and conventions in the heart of Europe.