The German National Tourist Board has appointed Beatrix Haun as the new Director of the German National Tourist Office for the UK and Ireland, based in London. Beatrix was previously Director of the GNTB in France, based in the Paris office. She took up her appointment on 1st August and succeeds Klaus Lohmann.
Beatrix began her career with the GNTB in Frankfurt as an apprentice travel trade consultant from 1978 to 1981. She held various roles at the GNTB’s head office until 1985, when she took over the role of Deputy Director in Paris, assuming full management responsibilities in 2003. From 2008 to 2011, she was head of the GNTB’s office in Vienna, before returning to the French capital in 2011, where she has since held the position of Director.
Beatrix said: “I am delighted to be taking up the post of Director for the GNTO UK and Ireland. These are ranked among the most important source markets for incoming tourism to Germany worldwide. I look forward to developing further our highly successful work in the UK and Ireland for destination Deutschland.”
With a record 5.6 million overnight stays registered in 2016, the UK ranks third in Europe as an important incoming source market for Germany. The Republic of Ireland shows a similar successful trend, registering 476,115 overnight stays in 2016, an increase of 9.3% on the previous year.
Culture and history are cited among the most popular reasons for visitors to travel to Germany. In addition, the GNTO’s main marketing and travel campaigns also include the ‘Royal Heritage Route’, plus youth travel, city breaks, active holidays, camping, BarrierFree (accessible) travel, and LGBT travel.
