Tourism in Germany set a new record in 2024 with 496.1 million guest overnight stays, according to the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The figure was 1.9 per cent up on the figure from 2023, and 0.1 per cent more than the previous record year of 2019.

Camping and caravanning were very much at the heart of these encouraging statistics. Overnight stays on campsites in Germany in 2024 were recorded at 42.9 million, which represents an impressive 19.9 per cent increase on the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (35.8 million).

The strength of the camping and caravanning market in Germany should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the industry. The CMT Show in Stuttgart last month reported an impressive attendance of 260,000, while recent figures revealed by the Caravaning Industrie Verband (CIVD) showed that 2024 was the third-best year ever for new leisure vehicle registrations in Germany (96,392 recorded).

In the overall tourism figures, the number of overnight stays by domestic guests rose by 1.1 per cent year-on-year to 410.8 million in 2024. This exceeded the pre-coronavirus level of 2019 by 1.3 per cent.

The number of overnight stays by foreign guests was 85.3 million, 5.4 per cent higher than in 2023, but 5.1 per cent lower than in 2019. The share of foreign guests in the total number of guests was thus 17.2 per cent, after being 16.6 per cent in 2023 and 18.1 per cent in the record year of 2019.