Potsdam is booming: record numbers of overnight stays and enthusiastic guests!

Potsdam is booming: record numbers of overnight stays and enthusiastic guests!

Potsdam is enjoying growing popularity as a tourist destination. In May 2025, an impressive 61,165 overnight guests were registered in the city's accommodation establishments. This corresponds to an increase of 3,461 guests compared to May of the previous year, which corresponds to a pleasing increase of 6 percent. Compared to May 2019, Potsdam also recorded an increase of 2,670 guests, according to potsdam.de.

In the first five months of 2025, a total of 218,461 guests visited the city, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the previous year. The average length of stay for visitors was 2.4 days – a small decrease from 2.5 days last year. A total of 513,656 overnight stays were recorded, which also represents a slight increase of 0.7 percent.

Expansion of accommodation options

The city has significantly expanded its accommodation offering in recent years and now has 7,562 beds, an increase of 1,549 beds since 2019. This has been supported by the opening of new hotels such as the Holiday Inn Express, the niu Amity Potsdam and Hampton by Hilton. Nevertheless, annual bed occupancy at 50.8 percent in 2024 remains behind the value of 57.4 percent from 2019. In May 2025, occupancy was an impressive 57.9 percent, meaning Potsdam is well positioned to remain competitive in the future.

The popularity of Potsdam is also reflected in a recent study: 96 percent of Potsdam residents find their city attractive as a travel destination; 94 percent think she is likeable. In addition, 93 percent would recommend Potsdam for a short vacation. Visitors particularly appreciate the opportunity to visit gardens and parks, enjoy nature and take in cultural offerings, making the city an ideal destination for many holidaymakers.

Events and future perspectives

The city is planning exciting events, such as the ship parade and the Potsdam Palace Night, which will complement the tourist offer. In addition, the MICE network Potsdam was founded to increase its visibility as a conference and congress location. The constant increase in tourist offerings is supported by the positive feedback from visitors, who note that special experiences in Potsdam such as a steamboat trip or a visit to the Sanssouci complex should not be missed.

Conclusion: Potsdam shows that despite the challenges of the last few years, especially the Corona pandemic, a clear path forward has been taken. With residents' strong identification with their city and a varied tourist offering, Potsdam has all the cards in hand to become even more popular.

For more in-depth information on tourism development in Potsdam, we recommend taking a look at the comprehensive statistics from the Brandenburg State Statistical Office as well as further details on the city's measures at potsdam.de.