Erfurt (dpa/th) - Thuringia wants to focus more on congress and event tourism in the future. There is still a lot of potential for more overnight stays, said the managing director of Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, Christoph Gösel, on Monday. The Free State therefore wants to make new contacts with trade fair and conference organizers at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin and draw their attention to the central location of Thuringia and the offers.
Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) wants to boost the tourism business with new incentives. The minister announced that the state was planning to provide a kind of start-up financing for the development of new offers and travel events in the future. The state tourism program should be expanded accordingly. Information on the extent was not given.
The tourist funding volume in 2022 was 32.4 million euros - this was accompanied by investments of 51 million euros. According to the information, 35 tourism projects such as the expansion of cycle paths or the construction of hotels were supported. According to the ministry, the number of overnight stays increased by more than 35 percent last year compared to 2021. However, the pre-corona level has not yet been reached again.
Thuringia will be present at the ITB from March 7th to 9th at the joint stand of the German National Tourist Board. Eight other federal states, including Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, are using the joint stand. The state of Bavaria spends 130,000 euros for the appearance at the ITB.
