Latest figures from Germany show the country continuing to attract the business travel market with numbers second only to the US.

Findings from ‘Meeting & EventBarometer Germany’ released today (22 April) at the IMEX fair in Frankfurt, reveal that the number of events in Germany increased by 6% last year to 2.8m, while individual attendance rose 8% to 314m.

“Even though people tend to forget it, our country is not only a popular vacation destination, we are also highly-regarded worldwide as a business travel destination,” said German National Tourist Board CEO Petra Hedorfer.

The country is certainly geared up to handle such numbers. A highly-developed and extensive transport infrastructure, particularly rail and air-based, criss-crosses Germany while some 6,200 hotels, convention and event centres cater for the demand.

“Almost one third of trips to Germany are professionally motivated [and] one crucial result of the study is the continued growth of demand for meetings and events in Germany,” noted German Convention Bureau managing director Lutz Vogt.

And Germany’s image appears to have undergone something of a transformation too as European Association of Event Centers president August Moderer said: “Our study indicates there has been a perceptible improvement of the image of events facilities in Germany.

“Professionals are required in all areas of the events industry – the budgets for events implementation are growing once again.”