tourism

Hello!

Today we invite you to an interview with two committed creators - Eva Wittig and Franziska Glaubitz from Europastadt GörlitzZgorzelec GmbH, because many international travel journalists have just been our guests in Görlitz and Upper Lusatia. How do they view Görlitz?  

In the run-up to the 50th German Travel Mart 2024, international travel journalists were invited to Görlitz - can you briefly explain to us to what extent you as Europastadt GmbH were involved and how the press trip was designed? The city of Görlitz, but also the district of Görlitz, have so many tourist attractions to offer - where do you start?

Eva Wittig (bottom left in the photo), managing director of Europastadt-GoerlitzZgorzelec GmbH and PR and social media manager Franziska Glaubitz were kind enough to answer questions for the Unbezahlbarland blog.

E. Wittig & F. Glaubitz: The international travel journalists visited our city as part of the 50th German Travel Mart 2024 , which took place in Chemnitz this year. The so-called Pre Convention Tour was initiated by the German National Tourist Board (DZT) and led to Upper Lusatia (Görlitz, Bautzen, Kamenz). The journalists were able to register for the respective offers. We ultimately created the program for Görlitz. Eva Wittig got to know the group at a lunch together in the potato house . Petrus Snoeijer (who was officially named “Tourism Hero of Saxony” in 2023!) guided the guests through our city. Arriving at Görlitz train station had a lot of wow effects. Then we went through the Wilhelminian style district, to the historic library hall in the baroque house , to St. Peter's Church with a glimpse of the famous sun organ , once over the old town bridge to Poland and, last but not least, a visit to the Holy Sepulchre on the program.

Which countries did the journalists come from – and did they have different (perhaps culturally influenced) perspectives on us?

E. Wittig & F. Glaubitz: The total of 17 travel journalists & bloggers came from all corners of the world: Canada, Belgium, UK, India, USA, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Spain, the Czech Republic and even Japan. Only a few of them had ever been to Görlitz or had specific ideas about the city. However, many were able to establish a connection to the film city .

Petrus Snoeijer , who was officially named "Tourism Hero of Saxony" in 2023, led the international press through the city

Can you tell us which of our attractions is attracting the most attention, what has attracted the most attention from the international press?

E. Wittig & F. Glaubitz: Most people were particularly surprised by the size that Görlitz once had; of the cosmopolitan city, which can still be seen in the closed ensemble of the Wilhelminian era . The library also left a great impression. Interest in Görliwood® . You want to explore the filming locations and find out where who jumped out of the window ( Jackie Chan ) or see the wall that can be seen in the Grand Budapest Hotel ... The topic of European cities also fascinated everyone on the press trip. Simply crossing a national border in the middle of the city is an extraordinary experience. And many wanted to find out more about living together in the European city: How do people from both countries interact with each other? What does everyday life look like in Görlitz-Zgorzelec, what projects are both cities working on together, etc.

The past tourism year brought Görlitz a new overnight stay record - never before have there been as many overnight stays in the Neisse city as in 2023. As the current figures from the State Statistical Office show, 146,936 tourists and business travelers came to Görlitz last year and booked a total of 328,265 overnight stays.
This corresponds to an increase of 9.3 percent compared to the previous year... Impressive!

Last year was the most successful in Görlitz tourism - can or should we expect further increases? Why do you think Görlitz is still on the rise as a long-running favorite?

E. Wittig & F. Glaubitz: We think there is still “room for improvement” and are continuing to work on various projects that expand the tourism infrastructure and range of offerings. This also included increasing awareness in international markets.

Görlitz is an architectural jewel and attracts with many beautifully renovated monuments . Many guests have either already seen the big cities or prefer destinations that are not so crowded. Görlitz fits the bill perfectly. On the one hand, the city is praised as an insider tip and, on the other hand, it is extremely famous due to international film productions . This arouses curiosity and interest in our city. In addition, there is almost no other place in Europe where it is possible to walk so seamlessly through the stylistic eras from Gothic to Renaissance and Baroque to the Wilhelminian Period and Art Nouveau. The urban work of art with almost 4,000 architectural monuments is our greatest treasure and continues to attract many visitors. In addition to a varied cultural offering, Lake Berzdorf an increasingly important role, especially among guests from the neighboring countries of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Thank you for the interview! As soon as we discover the international journalists' travel reports online, we will report and link them here in the UBL blog.

...and if you're now really in the mood for a holiday back home - and because good things are often so close, we've put together an overview of the upcoming spring and summer tourism highlights in Görlitz here: