Last year Berlin decided to do solve the problems with excessive crowds of tourists in some of the most popular places in the German capital. The goal of Visit Berlin’s Burkhard Kieker was to make tourism more city-friendly, with focus on the cooperation between the company and the twelve districts of Berlin. Moreover, the tourist board is going to analyze mobile data.
To strengthen the districts there are about three new bicycle routes in the southwest of the city. In addition, the smartphone app “Going Local Berlin” has been reissued, according to Visit Berlin. Among other things, the digital offer now includes 700 excursion tips away from the usual travel guide recommendations.
For this, Visit Berlin had the tour “Berlin Modern” developed in view of the Bauhaus anniversary this year. 39 of the 51 tips presented there are located in the outskirts of the city, as confirmed by Kieker. It has also been announced that in the future, the city would want to make more money available for the cleaning of parks. By 2021, the sum should rise to a good 14 million euros.
Visit Berlin also wants districts to develop their own concepts to attract more guests and boost the tourist flow. A seven-member team is now regularly exchanging data with the individual districts. The goal is to achieve a change based on the latest figures on the visitor flow in the city which will be provided by the Telekom subsidiary.
The subsidiary will evaluate mobile data from the Deutsche Telekom network. The whereabouts, age range and nationality of the tourists are recorded. All of this is consistent with data protection laws and agreed upon with the authorities, as confirmed by the company’s CEO.
Over the next years, Visit Berlin will be spending more than 200 thousand euros to get a little closer to the tourists. Burkhard Kieker initially sees the mobile data survey as an inventory. Based on the numbers, the company also wants to make recommendations for routes in the city.
In addition to the tourist flow, authorities also want to take a closer look at the hotel landscape. There will be more settlements of new accommodation in the outskirts in the coming years.