© visitBerlin / Dagmar Schwelle
 

Germany's inbound tourism is steadily recovering, making an increasing contribution to the total volume of overnight stays, according to an analysis by the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) based on provisional overnight stay figures from the Federal Statistical Office.

In November 2023, 5.5 million international overnight stays in accommodation establishments with at least ten beds were registered, reflecting a 7.8% increase compared to the same month last year. The cumulative number of overnight stays by foreigners from January to November reached 74.9 million. This brings the incoming figures to 89.6% of the results for the same period in the previous record year 2019. The share of foreign guests in the total number of overnight stays was 16.4% in the first eleven months, compared to 14.8% in the same period of the previous year.

Petra Hedorfer, Chairwoman of the GNTB Executive Board, explains: "In the European Travel Commission's Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel study, Germany maintained its position among the top five preferred destinations for Europeans in autumn 2023 and is participating in the Europe-wide trend towards international travel. The proportion of those who only want to travel in their own country in the next six months has fallen continuously from 31.5% in fall 2021 to 25.7% in fall 2023. European destinations were still preferred by 55.3% of travelers in autumn 2021, compared to 60.3% in autumn 2023. This means that Europe, as the most important source region, together with good recovery prospects from overseas source markets, also offers strong potential for the further recovery of German inbound tourism in the coming months growing travel activity from Asia, and China in particular, will have a positive impact on the further development of inbound tourism. We expect additional impetus in the summer from visitors to the European Football Championship in Germany. In addition, cultural highlights such as the 250th anniversary of Caspar David Friedrich's birth, the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025 will provide significant travel opportunities for international guests.”