Duesseldorf voted 2nd most tourist-friendly city in Germany

Düsseldorf, Germany — In an independent study by the German Institute of Service Quality published this month, Düsseldorf emerged as second most tourist-friendly city among ten Germany cities. The stellar growth in numbers of leisure travelers from all over the world is testimony to the increasing popularity of the city as a leisure destination.

The number of hotel nights booked at Düsseldorf hotels rose to 2,929,265 for the period of January – October, an increase of 11% compared to last year and including a 17% increase in the number of foreign travelers during the same period. Judging by the numbers so far, a total of over 3 million hotel nights is predicted for calendar year 2010.

The high number of visitors is mostly attributed to the city’s repertoire of annual festivals and attractions with an international draw: 4 million visitors came to the “Largest Fair on the Rhine” in July; 700,000 to “Japan Day”; 10,000 to the open air “Opera and Ballet for All,” and 6 million visited the famous reimagined Christmas market.

Another factor is the winning marketing strategy for Düsseldorf by its tourism office. Increased marketing efforts in key markets all over the world, new marketing materials for specific target markets and visitor packages, a new HopOn HopOff bus, and an award-winning image film and a newly designed web site contribute to the greater attention Duesseldorf received on an international scale.

The rapid increase in Düsseldorf’s tourism numbers is expected to continue in 2011, especially since the city was selected as the site of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.