Berlin Airports in Arabia

Berlin Airports and Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH are holding a joint roadshow from 5 until 9 April 2008 in the Arabian Gulf states, where they will spotlight the German capital. This year’s programme includes five stops, Doha, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and, for the first time, also two Saudi-Arabian cities, Riyadh and Jeddah. Other partners involved in this event are Qatar Airways, the German Tourist Board in Dubai, Maritim Hotel Berlin, The Regent Hotel Berlin, The Ritz Carlton Berlin, Alpha Travel Consultants GmbH, The Ritz Carlton Berlin and also the Network for Better Medical Care (NBMC).

The five-day event offers trade visitors from the Arab tourism and aviation industry the opportunity to get to know Berlin through presentations, workshops and press conferences. At the same time, contacts can be cultivated with local business partners and new contacts made – particularly in Saudi Arabia.

“Metropolitan Berlin is an attractive destination for tourists from Arab countries. Culture, lifestyle, shopping, wellness or exclusive hotels – Berlin offers quality-conscious customers a host of options,” says Burkhard Kieker, marketing manager of Berlin Airports. “What’s more, with its many woodlands and lakes, the capital city region Berlin Brandenburg is a green oasis for nature lovers right on the capital’s doorstep.

Large sums are currently being invested to develop the Arab region into an important hub for business and tourist travel, which is why it is a key growth market for Berlin Airports. Since 1 February, the Arabian airline Qatar Airways has been connecting the German capital with Doha, where onward flights serve the Middle and Far East as well as the Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Additional intercontinental connections are planned to further open up this gateway to the East, in line with which, LT has already been flying three times weekly non-stop from Tegel to the Thai capital, Bangkok, since November 2007.

Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH is anticipating growing interest in the destination Berlin. Visitor numbers could, for example, increase if the rather protracted process of issuing visas to travellers from the Arab states were simplified. As the present legal regulations hinder short-term business relationships, many Arab business customers favour the more easily accessible South-East Asian market.