Germany to welcome 1.5 million at World Cup

Germany expects as many as 1.5 million guests at this summer’s World Cup finals, an official said today, as organisers stepped up efforts to polish their welcome with a national “friendliness campaign.”

The German government launched its €2.9m ‘National Service and Friendliness Campaign’ last year.

It hopes that persuading Germans to serve with a smile rather than a shrug will improve the country’s image as a tourist destination.

“Germans are friendly – they just have to let it show,” Economy Minister Michael Glos told N24 television.

Christoph Bergner, a deputy interior minister, estimated the number of guests at some 1.5 million; the head of the country’s tourism industry association, Klaus Laepple, gave a lower estimate of 1 million.

Glos and Franz Beckenbauer, the head of the World Cup organising committee, unveiled a new poster and video campaign depicting waiters, train conductors and others rolling out red carpets.

The aim, national tourism official Petra Hedorfer said, is to “sensitise everyone to his personal role as a host.”

The campaign is designed to fit with the World Cup’s official emblem, depicting three smiling faces, and slogan – ‘A time to make friends.’

The tournament opens June 9, with the final scheduled for July 9.