Employees, Tourists & Students: The “New Diplomats”
One of the most telling indicators of the close bonds between the United States and Germany is the extensive travel between the two countries. From high school exchange students choosing the United States for their first trip outside Europe to winners of the diversity visa program to “snow-birds” who winter in Florida, Germans travel to the United States by the hundreds of thousands every year. These connections not only lead to economic spin-offs, but also create cultural bridges. We contribute to each other’s trade, work for each other’s companies, enjoy each other’s cultures, and learn from each other’s experiences.
Tourism is the leading reason for German travel to the United States. In recent years, the strong euro has boosted the popularity of the United States as a travel destination. Germans are the largest group of visitors from continental Europe to the United States, and their number is expected to increase by 20% by the year 2011. In 2007, German visitors spent over $5 billion - one fifth more than the previous year.
Despite a relatively unfavorable exchange rate during the past few years, tourism from the U.S. to Germany has remained strong. Visitors from the United States registered
4,661,543 overnight hotel stays in Germany in 2007. The United States ranks #2 in total overnight stays by foreign visitors after the Netherlands and #1 for visitors
from overseas. Visitors from the United States to Germany spent roughly $5.9 billion in 2007, which is even more than German tourists spent in the United States that year. The money that tourists spend generates jobs and profits not just for hotel and restaurant workers, but also for travel agents, airlines and auto rental agencies - on both sides of the Atlantic.
One of the most lasting cross-cultural connections is built by students visiting the United States. Exchanges between the United States and Germany are the highest in Europe and rank among the most popular in the world. Some 30,000 German and American high school and university students study in each other’s countries annually for an entire academic year. Even more German students, however, participate in short-term exchange programs. Tens of thousands of exchange visitors from Germany obtain visas to live, research, and study in the United States each year. These visitors range from high school exchange students to visiting professors to high-level researchers.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many Germans, now in high-level positions, began their U.S. connection on high school exchange programs. They are renewing and maintaining the relationships that they or even their parents began as young students. The U.S. Embassy is working with the private sector to extend exchange opportunities for minority students who have been traditionally underrepresented in exchange programs.
Increasingly U.S. affiliates in Germany are becoming representatives of this “new diplomacy”, as they focus more on their responsibilities to German society. It is clear that while jobs are a leading indicator of how U.S. firms contribute to economic prosperity in Germany, they do not tell the full story. According to a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, over 40% of U.S businesses in Germany support educational, environmental and other community-based activities at the local, regional and national levels.
Business also generates a steady traffic of two-way visitors. Following a dip after September 11, 2001, issuances of business visas clearly exceeded pre-9/11 levels by 2006 — and the trend is continuing upward. Of particular note in this category are the Treaty Trader and Treaty Investor visas. Treaty Trader and Investor visa applications accounted for $1.6 billion in ongoing trade and more than $2 billion dollars in cumulative investment.
More and More Connections
Numerous collaborative partnerships, both public and private, sustain and add momentum to bi-national exchange programs. Both the German Fulbright Commission and the German American Partnership Program are the largest government-supported exchange programs of their type worldwide. But while government supported exchanges are important, the number, variety, and impact of private programs — arranged through institutional and sister city partnerships, German-American clubs, sports and cultural groups, not to mention spin-offs from business affiliations and commercial initiatives — are far greater.
Over 170 cities in Germany have concluded partnerships with American cities. Many of these programs began shortly after the end of the Second World War in parts of Germany where American troops were stationed. Since reunification, 31 new partnerships have been established in the eastern German states. These sister city initiatives generate a significant and continuous flow of visitors from the United States to Germany and vice versa. Some focus on annual school or university exchanges; others regularly organize visits of clubs or institutions or foster business and trade contacts.
In 2007, there were 1,330 partnerships between German and American institutions of higher education, up from 1,225 in 2006. This figure is certain to rise as a result of the introduction of bachelor's and master's degree courses in Germany enabling German students to receive credit for coursework completed abroad.
The United States established Amerika Haus cultural centers in many cities in the postwar years. Hundreds of thousands of Germans attended programs and visited the libraries. Over the years, many of the Amerika Haus centers became German-American Institutes, supported for the most part by German local, state and federal governments, as well as by the U.S. Embassy and corporate sponsors. The U.S. Embassy and its Consulates have also developed strong partnerships and working relationships with libraries, schools, universities, think tanks and other institutions throughout Germany.
