Highlighting Hamburg

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"We expect good numbers to come from the Middle East once the promotions start taking root."

Agents should also recommend that families visit the Miniature Wunderland Museum, which contains one of the biggest mock-up railways in the world.

For older children recommend a tour of the Hamburg dungeon exhibition, featuring re-enactment and live interaction of events such as storm tide floods, the famous Hamburg fire and being chased by the holy inquisition. It may be a bit much for younger children, but teenagers will love it.

Retail therapy

For shopping enthusiasts, Hamburg offers a refreshing alternative to the mega malls of the Middle East.

The city is littered with small malls and boutiques with plenty of luxury brands - both big labels and niche names - on offer.

Women with a shoe fetish will be in seventh heaven when they feast their eyes on the 115 different shoe shops, while clients seeking the latest fashion options should head to the Schanzen and Karoviertel quarters where style, chic and creativity are the bywords of the trendy stores located there. For those seeking more eccentric items, recommend the Eppendorf quarter.

This area around the city's university offers cinemas, pubs and cafés, book shops, grocery and wine stores, as well as vintage and designer boutiques, not to mention stores and stalls selling snacks from all over the world.

In addition, there's a chance to stroll the green avenues that are lined with many Art Nouveau buildings. Items like handcrafted jewellery, posters and film placards, tea, spices and antiques can be snapped up here.

City highlights

Agents should also emphasise the cultural aspects of Hamburg.

New York and London aside, Hamburg is the third largest musical metropolis in the entire world.

One of the classics is Disney's Lion King in the grandiosely situated Theater im Hafen.

From Plattdüütsch to John Neumeier's ballet, just about everything is covered on Hamburg's many stages.

Hamburg has three state theatres: the grand Hamburgische Staatsoper, founded in 1678; the Deutsches Schauspielhaus; and the Thalia Theater. In addition, there are 313 theatres, concert halls and cabaret venues on offer from which to choose.

Hamburg is also one of the few places where you can tour the city by ship.

Packages range from inner and outer [river] Alster trips to canal tours and nostalgic steamer cruises as well as ‘Twilight Tours'.

For those that might prefer an aerial view of the city recommend a hot-air balloon trip provided by Ballons über Hamburg Company.

"There is so much here that a lot of visitors to Hamburg struggle to know where to start," says Hotel Atlantic Kempinski assistant director of sales Axel Mißner.

"The city is very cultural, but also naturally beautiful and vibrant with energy and activities happening all of the time."

Mißner claims that the 252-room five-star Hotel Atlantic Kempinski is ideally suited for Middle East guests.

"We are very mindful of what guests from that particular region require," he says.

"We can provide special prayer mats, we serve Halal food and have Arabic-speaking staff, while our top suites are inter-connecting so we can easily accommodate large family bookings."

Hamburg also has a busy nightlife scene so agents selling to younger travellers can recommend places where they can let their hair down more.

The Reeperbahn area in central Hamburg is the district where all the top clubs are located with a mix of musical options spanning hard rock, dance and chilled-out trance. Reeperbahn is also home to the Mandarin Kasino, rated one of the top clubs in Europe, hosting headline DJs and favouring the music types of Nusoul, hip hop and electro highlights.

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