Germany’s incoming tourism reports record results for 2019 for the tenth time in a row: From January to December, the Federal Statistical Office registered 89.
9 million overnight stays by foreigners in accommodation facilities with at least ten beds. This result corresponds to an increase of 2.2 million international overnight stays compared to the previous year, an increase of 2.
6 percent.
Petra Hedorfer, CEO of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), explains: “Five trends are shaping the balance of German incoming tourism in 2019: Europe – the most important source region for Germany is once again the growth driver with an increase of 4.0 percent. Quality tourism is the central argument in the social discourse on sustainability in tourism. In the competition among destinations, Germany maintains its leading position as the number one business travel destination in Europe and is gaining further market share as a holiday destination. In the online business, the process of concentration on a few players, who represent more and more stages of the value chain, is progressing. The digital transformation has implications for marketing.”
Source region Europe as growth driver
According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost three-quarters of international overnight stays in Germany in 2019 come from Europe. The growth drivers among the European source markets are the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, and Italy.
Among the overseas source regions, the American continent is growing at an average rate of 2.6 percent. Only from Asia – with 2.2 % – overnight stays are below the comparable figures of the previous year after several boom years.
The top three source markets for Germany are again the Netherlands (up 2.6 percent to 11.7 million overnight stays), Switzerland (up 3.0 percent to 7.1 million) and the USA (up 4.3 percent to 7.0 million).
Quality offering for sustainable success
Germany as a travel destination was again characterized by the high quality of its tourism offering in 2019: This was confirmed, for example, by the third place in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum, and sixth place in the SDG Sustainability Index.
Strong competitive position
According to the preliminary results of the World Travel Monitor evaluation by IPK International, Destination Germany is continuing to expand its strong position as a target market for Europeans. While the total number of foreign trips from Europe is three percent higher than in the previous year, the number of trips from Europe to Germany is rising by four percent.
According to IPK, Germany, as a travel destination, can further expand its position as a holiday destination. At five percent, this segment is growing much faster than the market as a whole (plus four percent).
Germany remains by far the most important business travel destination for Europeans. The two percent increase in this segment is twice as high as that of its European competitors.
The growth is driven by promotable business travel, which is set to grow by five percent in 2019.
Challenges in 2020
At the beginning of 2020, further challenges for global tourism are emerging. Petra Hedorfer added: “We must continue to deal with difficult economic conditions, weaker growth in the euro zone, the Brexit issue, open trade conflicts, the ongoing climate debate and now also the effects of the corona virus.”