Holiday high with Bulgarian tourists: Germany as a long-running favorite!

Holiday high with Bulgarian tourists: Germany as a long-running favorite!

The travel industry in Germany has recently experienced noticeable highs. What turns out to be good news for the industry is a real boom in tourism, even exceeding the record numbers of 2019. According to the latest figures, an impressive 496.1 million overnight stays were counted in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 1.9 percent compared to 2023. This is reported by the German Tourism Association. December alone recorded an increase of 3.6 percent with 31 million overnight stays. Who would have thought?

Demand from abroad has increased in particular. In 2024, foreign guests generated 85.3 million overnight stays, an increase of 5.4 percent compared to the previous year. Even if this level is slightly below that of 2019, the signs of a positive trend are unmistakable. Reinhard Meyer, President of DTV, emphasizes how important it is to continue to optimize the framework conditions for the industry in order to meet current trends.

Special trends in German tourism

An insightful analysis by the Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI) takes a close look at the length of stay of tourists from 56 countries in Germany. Particularly noteworthy here are Bulgarian tourists, whose length of stay increased by an impressive 6.87 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. This shows that vacationing in Germany is a worthwhile affair for many, even if Germans themselves also like to travel to southern countries, as the analysis shows. Taiwan and the Czech Republic also recorded increases in length of stay of 4 percent and 2.27 percent respectively.

However, there were also declines, especially among guests from Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia, all of whom spent more than 15 percent less time in Germany. On the map of the most popular federal states, Saxony-Anhalt recorded a positive development with an increase of 1.01 percent, while Berlin suffered the largest decline with 2.97 percent. Compared to the 140 German travel areas, the Elbe-Elster-Land in Brandenburg stands out, topping the list with an increase of 8.11 percent.

Travel behavior of Germans

What is German travel behavior like? According to Statista, over 56 million Germans traveled on vacation in 2024, resulting in around 68 million trips in total. Germans spent an average of around 1,300 euros on their vacation. The domestic market remains a popular destination: 29 percent of travelers plan to spend their vacation in Germany in 2025. Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein are particularly popular, while the North and Baltic Sea coasts attract many visitors in summer and the Bavarian ski areas in winter.

The most popular travel destinations outside of Germany in 2024 were Spain, Italy and Turkey, along with increasing interest in long-distance travel, particularly to Asia. Despite the challenges such as short-term bookings, the joy of traveling remains unbroken. Germans have clear ideas about their vacation: relaxation, nature experiences and cultural highlights are at the top of the list of wishes.

Overall, there is a positive picture for the future of tourism in Germany. The industry has responded to changing travel habits with courage and adaptability and continues to have good prospects for a successful 2025.