Record numbers of guests stay overnight in the tourism industry.
Germany is seeing a surge in domestic tourism: 90 million overnight stays were recorded in the first quarter of this year, breaking a previous record set before the pandemic.
German hotels, inns, and guesthouses achieved record-breaking overnight stays in both March and the first quarter of the present year. They welcomed 88.9 million guests in the first three months, which was 8.4% more than the same period last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This surpassed the pre-pandemic record of 86.9 million overnight stays in the first quarter of 2019, the year before the coronavirus outbreak in Germany. With 35.6 million overnight stays by both local and international guests in March, these establishments broke the previous monthly record of 2018 by 2.5 million. Compared to March 2023, the number of guests rose by 12.3%.
"There's plenty of reason to be optimistic here," said Norbert Fiebig, Deputy President of the BTW tourism association, during the tourism summit in Berlin. "Things are looking up for 2024 - a true comeback," stressed Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck. "It's a strong possibility that the travel industry will reach pre-corona record years again in 2024."
Habeck called these March figures "staggeringly good." Domestic demand is on the rise due to an economic recovery, and inflation is gradually decreasing. "People have more money to spend since the beginning of the year," explained the minister. The intention is to use the European Football Championships as a platform to rebrand the catchphrase "Visiting friends" into an advertising campaign for Germany.
Growing domestic and international demand
Fiebig urged politicians not to impose any new burdens on businesses. He criticized the notion of increasing the air traffic tax as "the wrong signal." Fiebig, who is also President of the German Travel Association (DRV), representing travel agencies and package holiday providers, added, "Travel has already become more expensive."
Both domestic and foreign demand rose significantly in both periods. In March, domestic guests accounted for 13.2% more overnight stays than the previous year, reaching 30.1 million. The increase is likely attributed to the fact that this year, Easter vacations began in March in all federal states except Schleswig-Holstein. The number of international guests in March increased by 7.8% to 5.5 million. In the first quarter, establishments saw an 8.5% increase in overnight stays by domestic guests to 73.9 million and a 7.8% increase in guests from abroad to 15 million. These figures represent accommodations with at least ten beds or ten camping pitches.
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Source: www.ntv.de
