Germany: Thuringia hosts GNTB Travel Summit 2026 - Get updated on what's happening in tourism!

Thuringia will move into the international tourism spotlight from 20 to 23 September 2026, when the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) and Thüringer Tourismus GmbH jointly host the Thuringia Travel Summit in Erfurt. Under the slogan “Heritage meets innovation in the Green Heart of Germany”, the sales event will connect regional tourism suppliers with around 60 international buyers.

Participants are expected from tour operators in 14 European source markets: Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Italy, France and Poland. The programme combines business meetings with excursions designed to showcase Thuringia’s cultural heritage, natural landscapes, regional cuisine and new tourism products.

European tour operators meet Thuringian suppliers

The centrepiece of the Travel Summit will be a workshop at Peterskirche, a former monastery in Erfurt. On Tuesday, 40 tourism companies and organisations from across Thuringia will present their products and establish contacts with international buyers.

Full- and half-day excursions will complement the business programme, taking participants to historical attractions and distinctive natural landscapes while providing first-hand experience of new and innovative tourism concepts.

“With the Travel Summit format, we are placing additional focus on the international marketing of Germany as a travel destination,” says Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the GNTB. “In doing so, we are concentrating on European source markets with a high volume of overnight stays and highlighting the strong attributes of the ‘Travel Destination Germany’ brand: Germany is the number one cultural destination and the number two nature destination for Europeans travelling worldwide.”

Hedorfer sees Thuringia as particularly well suited to this positioning, pointing to its heritage in music and literature, historical attractions, innovative experiences and natural landscapes.

New sales opportunities for Thuringia

For Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, the summit is intended not only to raise the state’s international profile but also to generate concrete business.

“We have a long-standing and trusting partnership with the German National Tourist Board in the international marketing of Thuringia,” says Christoph Gösel, Managing Director of Thüringer Tourismus GmbH. “The fact that we are jointly hosting the Travel Summit 2026 in Thuringia gives us a unique opportunity to position our destination specifically with relevant tour operators.”

According to Gösel, the excursions will demonstrate the diversity of the destination by combining cultural heritage, nature, regional cuisine and innovative tourism products.

“It is crucial for us to capitalise on this attention to generate new sales momentum and attract additional international visitors, thereby boosting value creation for Thuringia’s tourism sector,” he adds.

International overnight stays up 86 percent since reunification

Foreign tourism already represents a significant market for Thuringia. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office cited by the organisers, international visitors generated around 544,000 overnight stays in the state in 2025.

Compared with the period around German reunification, international overnight stays have increased by 86 percent. Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland are currently Thuringia’s most important foreign source markets.

By bringing buyers from these and other European markets directly together with local tourism businesses, the Travel Summit is designed to translate international interest into new products, partnerships and additional visitor flows to the region.

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