Destination Germany remains on course for success, with excellent growth in the volume of overnight stays by international visitors providing much of the momentum. In 2012 the German Federal Statistical Office recorded in excess of 68.8 million overnight stays by visitors from abroad in accommodation establishments with more than ten beds, an increase of around 8 per cent on the previous year. “We have exceeded, by a clear margin, the forecast volume of 400 million overnight stays from Germany and abroad. This emphatically underlines the huge popularity of Destination Germany, which is becoming increasingly attractive to people from other countries,” says Ernst Burgbacher, Member of the German Parliament, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology and Federal Government Commissioner for SMEs and Tourism.

Europe and the BRIC countries go from strength to strength

The German Federal Statistical Office recorded a total of 68.8 million overnight stays by visitors from abroad in 2012, up 8 per cent on the previous year.  The UK market (visitors from the UK to Germany) alone rose by 5.7%. “The European source markets and the BRIC countries are going from strength to strength and they have played a major role in this new record result for inbound tourism in Germany. If the main source markets continue to perform strongly, we will be on track to pass the 80 million mark in international overnight stays by 2020,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB). According to a UNWTO survey, growth in inbound tourism for Destination Germany remains well above the global and European average.