Braunschweig, Celle, Einbeck, Göttingen, Goslar, Hameln, Hanover, Hildesheim and Wolfenbüttel are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the “9 Cities” city co-operation at this year’s ITB. That means 40 years of international marketing for Lower Saxony.
40 years of “9 Cities”, that means attending more than 300 travel trade fairs and specialist events, organising more than 400 press and blogger trips as well as FAM trips for tour operators and publishing almost 1,000 articles, advertorials and blog posts. The “9 cities” see themselves as Lower Saxony’s ambassadors to the world.Hans Nolte, spokesman for the marketing cooperation and Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, explains: “We have been through various changes. It is and has always been important for us to pick up on current trends.Topics such as sustainability and digitalisation are the focus of our activities.” One example of this is the website, which has been translated into eight languages using AI.
The cooperation was founded 40 years ago, on 6 March 1984, during the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin under the name “The Wonderful Nine – Historic cities in Northern Germany”. The composition of the co-operation has changed only slightly over the years.The “+2”, the Autostadt in Wolfsburg and Hannover Airport have been added as new strategic partners.
At this year’s ITB, the “9 cities + 2 in Lower Saxony” will be presenting themselves with fresh drinks from their cities at the Lower Saxony evening organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.Various parallel campaigns will draw attention to the anniversary.For example, a competition is being organised on the cooperation’s social media channels to encourage people to post the most beautiful images from the cities.
The “9 cities + 2 in Lower Saxony” marketing cooperation is primarily active in Scandinavia, the Benelux countries, Austria and Switzerland.The marketing activities in the target markets are extensive, ranging from presentations at specialist events, cooperation with tour operators and publications in travel magazines to online and social media campaigns.
Press contact:
Petra Sievers
9 cities + 2 in Lower Saxony
Hannover Marketing & Tourismus GmbH
Vahrenwalder Street 7
D – 30165 Hanover
Phone: 0511-16849746
E-mail: petra.sievers@hannover-tourismus.de
www.9staedte.de