LOS ANGELES (December 2023) – The German National Tourist Office (GNTO) is pleased to award Jeff Chu, writer and editor at large at Travel + Leisure, as the winner of its Journalism Award for Sustainability Piece competition. This inaugural competition focused on entrants' recent coverage of sustainable travel within the tourism industry. As part of the country's effort to exhibit its commitment to preserving the destination, Germany created a sustainable tourism campaign called Feel Good. As the winner, Chu will have the opportunity to see this campaign in action as part of his awarded press trip to Germany, funded by the partners of GNTO.

"We are pleased to have Jeff as our first-ever winner and showcase to him Germany's sustainability efforts during his visit," said Ricarda Lindner, Regional Manager of the Americas, GNTO. "We would like to thank all of the applicants who applied, as well as the judges who gave their time. Together we are powerful advocates for and stewards of our natural resources."

The Journalism Award for Sustainability Piece aimed to encompass Germany's commitment to sustainability through the lens of tourism and hospitality. Journalists who entered were asked to demonstrate their writing skills in addition to any knowledge or experience on the topic of sustainability within the tourism industry. Once their writing sample was submitted, entries were anonymously judged by a panel of industry professionals, professors and journalism faculty from various North American universities whose work focuses on sustainability and/or tourism. As 2023 was the debut year of this exciting competition, GNTO looks to continue this next year. Writers looking to submit should keep an eye on GNTO's LinkedIn page.

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Media Contact

Maggie Laurhammer

MMGY NJF

mlaurhammer@njfpr.com

About the German National Tourist Office

The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action to represent Germany as a tourist destination and is funded by the Ministry in accordance with a decision taken by the German Bundestag. Working closely with the German travel industry and private-sector partners and trade associations, the GNTB develops strategies and marketing campaigns to promote Germany's positive image abroad as a travel destination and to encourage tourists to visit the country.

The GNTB's primary strategic areas of action are:

- Conducting targeted market research and analysis of market-specific customer demand in relation to various aspects of travel in the context of sustainability and culture among those with values-based lifestyles.

-Supporting the travel industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized businesses, through relationship management and the sharing of knowledge.

- Raising awareness of the Destination Germany brand and enhancing the brand profile with a focus on sustainability and climate change mitigation.

Focus on Sustainability and Digitalization

The GNTB promotes forward-looking tourism in line with the objectives of the German government. The focus here is on sustainability and digitalization.

To make inbound tourism more sustainable and competitive, our organization follows a three-pillar strategy that combines the sharing of knowledge with external partners and a supporting communications strategy with our internal sustainability initiative. The GNTB positions Germany as a sustainable and inclusive destination in the international travel market.

The GNTB is a pioneer when it comes to using immersive technologies (virtual, augmented, and mixed reality), voice assistants and other conversational interfaces, and artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots. To ensure that tourism offerings are visible on AI-based marketing platforms, the GNTB coordinates the German tourism industry's open-data/knowledge graph project.

The GNTB has 25 foreign agencies that it manages from its head office in Frankfurt.

More information can be found in our online press center at www.germany.travel.