HAMBURG — The Hamburg Tourist Board is launching a comprehensive online travel agent training program, designed to educate travel professionals and tour operators interested in selling the north German city.

The convenient eLearning tool provides themed information on Germany’s second largest city, and enables agents to effectively counsel their clients on the destination. Hamburg is the first city in Germany to provide this type of eLearning tool, said the tourist board.

The interactive, highly visual training tool happygohamburg.com is divided into four courses, covering topics such as Hamburg’s neighbourhoods, culture, lifestyle and excursions. Travel professionals can take the free online course at their own pace and at their convenience, and will receive a ‘Hamburg Specialist’ certification upon completion.

Additionally, those taking the specialist program in 2014 will have the chance to win a 5-day trip for two to Hamburg.

The Hamburg Tourist Board expects to reach up to 1,000 agents during the first year.

Recently, Hamburg has experienced significant increases in visitor numbers from North America. From January until September 2013, U.S. overnights in the city rose by 15.4% to 137,729 with increases of 7% (16,658) overnights from Canada.

The tool is available at happygohamburg.com. For general tourist information on Hamburg, go to hamburg-travel.com.