The Company Hamburg Tourismus GmbH

The Hamburg Tourist Board was created on January 1, 1989 through a merger of Hamburg-Information GmbH (HI) and Fremdenverkehrszentrale Hamburg e.V. (FVZ). While HI had previously focused predominantly on core advertising and PR objectives for the City of Hamburg, the FVZ, an association with a current membership of over 1,100 representatives of the city's tourist sector, provided services to tourists once they arrived.

The merger which formed the HHT also included the private sector thereby creating the most modern municipal tourism organization in Germany. 40% of the corporation's shares are held by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, 11% by Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH, 29% by Tourismusverband Hamburg e.V., 10% by DEHOGA Hamburg Hotel- und Gaststättenverband Hamburg e.V., 10% by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, 6% by the Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH, and since spring 2007 5% are held by the Hamburg Marketing GmbH. Thus, the city's tourism initiatives are jointly organized by the most important opinion leaders in the field.

By the mid-1990s, a shift in the structure of the tourist industry had placed new demands on the HHT. The organization responded by restructuring itself in 1995 with the goal of increasing its effectiveness and competitive ability and ensuring optimal utilization of the available resources. The creation of service and business units produced a further increase in entrepreneurial capabilities.