Germany

1. Germany

2. Overview of the country Terrain: The total area is 357,021 km2, where the terrain is relatively flat. It is the seventh largest country by area in Europe and the 62nd largest in the world. Within we find the famous rivers the Danube, the Elbe and the Rhine. The central rolling hills in the south is the Alps. Glaciers are found in the Alpine region, but are experiencing deglaciation. Borders: Germany borders with Denmark on the north; with Poland and Czech Rep. on the east; Austria and Switzeland on the south; France and Luxemburg in the south-west; and Belgium and Netherland on the north-west. Population: Commonly divided in two ethnic groups: alpines (center and south) and teutonics (north). It concentrates on the capital city Berlín (3.4 million people), Hamburg (1.786.448 people), Münich (1.353.186 people), Cologne (1.007.119 people) and Frankfurt (679.664 people).

3. Overview of the country Weather: Around -6 ºC to 1 ºC average in January, and around 16 ºC to 20 ºC in July. The rainfall can reach to 1.980mm per year on the south, mostly as snow; at the center, 1.500 mm as maximum; and 710 at the low lands of the north. Germany has air and water pollution issues. Language: The main language in Germany is german, spoken by almost all the citizens. There are, but, a few dialects much different from the main german. Religion: Around two thirds of Germany's population are Christian. They are fairly evenly split between Protestants and Catholics, but there are more Protestants in northern Germany, while the South has more Catholics. Germany is also home to around four million Muslims and about 100,000 Jews. Gross domestic product: $2.96 billions (2010 )

4. Germany as a Market . Germany are well known as a good market for tourism as, being one of the european most “rich” countries, they tend to spend good amounts of money when they travel. Spain is the first destination choice for them, with a 12,9 % of the trips, followed by Italy (7,2 %) and Turkey (7 %). The rest of the german destinations are its borders countries: Austria (6,2%), Poland (2 %) or Denmark (1,6 %). Rank Country Regional Market International Tourism Expenditures (2010) 1   Europe $77.7 billion

5. Germany as a destination Germany is the major business trip destination in Europe (followed by France, UK and Spain). As an important industrial and business center, German cities are prepared to recieve them, with an extensive motor way net, conference infraestructures, roads, specialized companies,... A part of the importance as a leisure destination, due its historical and cultural value, the percentage of the domestic trips within the country is huge too. In total, Germany had 26.88 million visitors on 2010.

6. Business trips relevance

7. Berlin Bundestag The Black Forest Brandenburger Tor

8. Berliner Mauer

9. Victory Column Loreley Rhine Unter den linden

10. Neuschwanstein

11. Auschwitz concentration camps Germany is not only well known by its cultural and economical influence, but for its history too. And specially, for the nazi crimes and its leader, Hitler. One of the places that makes more reference to all this history is the Auschwitz concentration camps, where between 2.5 and 4 million people, mostly jewish, were killed. In 1947, Poland founded a museum on the site of Auschwitz I and II, which by 2010 had seen 29 million visitors—1,300,000 annually—pass through the iron gates crowned with the infamous motto, Arbeit macht frei ("work makes free").

12. Road and automotive transport Main article: Autobahn Germany has approximately 650,000 km of roads, of which 231,000 km are non-local roads. The road network is extensively used with nearly 2 trillion kilometers travelled by car in 2009, in comparison to just 70 billion km travelled by rail and 35 billion km travelled by plane.

13. Rail transport Inter City Express train Main article: Rail transport in Germany Railways: total: 40,826 km, with at least 14,253 km electrified and 14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) is the major German railway infrastructure and service operator.

14. S-Bahn In some areas of Germany an urban railway called S-Bahn is in operation. These trains usually connect larger agglomerations to the suburban areas, although in the case of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn these also serve as a method of interurban transport between large cities (Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamsburg and Nuremberg/Fürth).

15. Air transport Short distances and the extensive network of motorways and railways make airplanes uncompetitive for travel within Germany (1%). But due the introduction of low-fares airlines, domestic air travel is becoming more attractive. Frankfurt International Airport is Germany's largest airport and a major transportation hub in Europe (one of the airports with the largest number of international destinations served worldwide). Germany's second most important international airport is Munich. Other major airports are Berlin Tegel, Berlin Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Leipzig/Halle.

16. Airlines Germany's largest airline is former national carrier Lufthansa that was privatised in the 1990s. The group also includes domestic subsidiaries Lufthansa Cityline and Eurowings that operate as Lufthansa Regional as wellas independently Operating low-cost subsidiary Germanwings. Air Berlin became second largest airline in recent years by absorbing LTU and dba. Charter carrier include Condor, TUIfly and Germania. In addition there are several regional carrier such as OLT and Cirrus Airlines as well as cargo operator such as Lufthansa Cargo and Air Cargo Germany. Lufthansa and Air Berlin aircraft

17. Water transport Waterways: 7,500 km; major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal links Rotterdam on the North Sea with the Black Sea. Ports and harbours: The port of Hamburg is the largest sea-harbour in Germany and ranks #2 in Europe, #7 worldwide, in total container traffic. Merchant marine: total: 4759 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totaling 6,395,990. Hamburg Harbour

18. The tourism organization GNTB, The National Tourism Board represents Germany throughout the world as a destination for holidays, business and visits to friends and family. GNTB is supported by 64 members, including tourism companies, regional marketing organisations, associations and cooperative marketing ventures. With a revenue of 185 billion euros in 2009, the German travel industry is helping to stabilise the economy. Domestic tourism: 314 million overnight stays International tourism: 54.8 million overnight stays.

19. Gastronomy Spanferkel Currywurst & Pommes frites German sausages and cheese

20. Other notables features Famous German Brands: Adidas, Allianz, Audi, Bayer, Bosch, BMV, Deutsche Bank, Hugo Boss AG, Lidl, Loewe, Montblanc, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Siemens, Staedtler, Volkswagen Group, Wella... German Beer: Germany has created a kind of “beer culture”, being just behind the Czechs and the Irish in their per capita consumption of beer. The highest density of breweries in the world is found near the city of Bamberg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria. They even celebrat the Oktoberfest, a 16-18 days festival celebrated in Munich at the late September.

21. For more information, click the link below: http://www.germany.travel/nl/germany/over-ons/annual-report/jahresbericht.html