More than 13 million tourists per year used to come to Berlin before Corona screwed it all up. Thanks to the virus, tourism was even forbidden for a while. Now tourists from within Germany are slowly returning.
In the German capital, ‘visitBerlin’ is the company that promotes Berlin globally. They set up information booths at trade fairs, they glue big poster ads to billboards, they sell ‘WelcomeCards’ and they make sure tourism in Berlin remains attractive to several target groups, including sightseeing tourists, party people, medical tourists, opera fans and others.
Berlin Visits for Pentecost
When ‘visitBerlin’ says tourists are coming back, they are indeed returning. Even though calculated optimism is definitely part of their motivation, they are usually the first to identify data which point towards a return of visitors. And this is exactly what they did now. Welcome to Berlin, everyone!
Germany’s most popular tourist spot, Berlin, might not be back where it was when this terrible year started, but the upcoming Pentecost weekend and the recent easing of some Corona restrictions are aspects that are making things happen again. Selfies at the Chancellery, cake at Kurfürstendamm, cycling along the Berlin Wall Path? No problem. Go right ahead.
‘Diversion and Optimism’
On the other hand, there is no getting drunk at pubs or dancing to dull techno beats at clubs because those are still closed. The more intellectual kind of activity, meaning visits to museums and galleries, is the right choice right now. Hey, at least the restaurants and hotels are open.
For ‘visitBerlin’, the company’s chief executive Burkard Kieker said the level of bookings was encouraging. “People are longing for diversion and optimism”, he believes. “After turbulent times, and with a new kind of normality, the German capital welcomes its guests for Pentecost with open doors and a smile.” Joseph Pulitzer himself could not have come up with a better wording.
‘Timeframe Tickets’
For Berlin’s museums, ‘timeframe tickets’ can be purchased online. That way, those establishments will be able to control the number of tourists who intend to invade them this coming weekend. Those tickets also help visitors plan their visit to Berlin more effectively, meaning they will not have to stand in line for too long.
Like most Berliners, the folks at ‘visitBerlin’ are desperate to get back to normality. They even created a new ‘Berlin WelcomeBackCard’ (yes, they believe not leaving spaces between words is as cool as Berlin itself). The card gives holders rebates of up to 50 percent at certain sightseeing spots.
Bookings from the South
The message is: Berlin is ready for you. Better come to see the capital or we will come to get you. According to ‘visitBerlin’, visiting Berlin is attractive again, especially to tourists from North Rhine-Westphalia and southern Germany. That is where most bookings for Pentecost were made from.
Of course, those tourists are right. All the history, 170 museums, 1,000 kilometers (621) of bike lanes, the Berlin Wall Path, the parks, the great views along the Spree river, the nice dining and everything else are good reasons to come to Berlin, the mesmerizing city. Amen.
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