Germany's economy has been arguably Europe's most robust post-recession economies, largely because it is driven by exports to growth markets in the Far East.
Speaking to ABTN at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives global education conference in Berlin, HRG Germany boss Mathias Warns said transaction volumes were already back to the levels enjoyed in early 2008.
But the managing director said there was no room for complacency, as there remained a number or challenges for both corporates and their travel management companies over the coming year.
"Germany is very much an export driven economy and it is very dependent on business travel. So we are nearly back to 2008 levels," he enthused.
He said there were strong volumes of air travel between Germany and the Far East and that premium traffic was also on the rebound.
"I think German companies view business travel differently to other countries," he reflected.
"It has a very big emotional importance to people. That's why online adoption rates in Germany are still very low."
He said travellers still preferred to speak to someone when booking travel, especially when it came to complex itineraries and hotel stays.
"It can cause companies problems in terms of visibility of spend," he said.
According to Warns, who joined the travel business in 2008 when he moved to HRG from Unysis, Germans still felt they had a right to comfortable travel and expected to choose the grade and class of airline or hotel that suited them.
"If you look at travel policies across Europe there has been a lot downgrading but this has happened to a lesser extent in Germany," he said.
The German said his country faced the same strategic challenges as much of Europe, though there were, he admitted, some unique obstacles to overcome.
"We still have to convince our customers that we are not simply a provider of commodities but rather an important strategic business partner that can help them be more profitable.
"But on thing lagging behind in Germany is corporate travel policy, as many companies don't have a structured travel programme.
"We need to educate them, and make them understand that it's not about cutting back, but about being clever and efficient.
"And another specific challenge for us is the dominant position of Lufthansa in the market.
"We need to help clients spread their spend across the supplier base. Companies sometimes have a history of always going with the state carrier; there is nothing wrong with that but you need to find a balance in order to derive the best value."
Warns said he was happy with his company's progress post-recession, but like most people said he was only cautiously optimistic about the short to medium-term future.
"I would say economic growth in Germany remains uncertain. The concensus among economists is that GDP will grow by about 1.1 or 1.2%.
"I think we will continue to see growth in intercontinental travel while the domestic and short-haul market will lag behind, largely because Germany companies have put restrictions on travelling for internal meetings."