Accommodation Industry in Germany: Statistics and Facts 2026

The German accommodation industry in numbers

Germany has one of the largest accommodation markets in Europe. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), establishments with at least 10 beds and campsites with at least 10 pitches recorded 497.4 million overnight stays and 192.0 million guest arrivals in 2025. The average guest therefore stayed about 2.6 nights. Hotels, inns and guesthouses accounted for 298.6 million nights, holiday accommodation for 97.0 million, campsites for 44.7 million and other establishments, mainly rehabilitation clinics and training centres, for 57.2 million.

The industry is mainly domestic. German residents accounted for 413.8 million nights, or 83.2 percent, and foreign guests for 83.6 million, or 16.8 percent. That makes Germany very different from Spain or Italy, where international visitors dominate. The global context for these numbers is covered in our global tourism report, and the German economy in our GDP of Germany data.

Overnight stays 2019 to 2025: from collapse to record

The pandemic hit German accommodation harder than almost any other sector. Overnight stays fell from 495.6 million in 2019 to 302.3 million in 2020, a drop of 39 percent, and stayed at 310.3 million in 2021 as lockdowns closed hotels to tourists for months. Recovery began in 2022 with 450.8 million, followed by 487.2 million in 2023 and a new record of 496.1 million in 2024. The 2025 total of 497.4 million is a second consecutive record.

Back to record: overnight stays fell to 302.3 million in 2020 and have since climbed to a record 497.4 million in 2025.

The recovery has flattened. After jumps of 45 percent in 2022 and 8 percent in 2023, growth slowed to 1.8 percent in 2024 and 0.3 percent in 2025. The industry is now close to its capacity in peak months: August 2025 was the busiest month with 59.4 million nights, while December reached 32.0 million, up 3.6 percent. How Germany compares with other destinations is shown in our ranking of the most visited countries in the world.

2026 so far: 282.1 million nights, a new high

The first seven months of 2026 set another record. Destatis reported 282.1 million overnight stays from January to July 2026, up 0.9 percent on the same period of 2025 and 0.4 percent above the previous high of 281.1 million in 2019. Domestic guests accounted for 235.0 million nights, up 0.8 percent, and foreign guests for 47.1 million, up 1.0 percent. After a fall in foreign demand in 2025, international guests are growing again.

Monthly results have been uneven. June 2026 recorded 48.8 million nights, down 3.1 percent on June 2025, partly because of the timing of public holidays. July recovered strongly with 58.4 million nights, up 3.2 percent, with both domestic guests, at 47.7 million, and foreign guests, at 10.8 million, rising by the same rate. January 2026, the quietest month, had 25.4 million nights.

Seasonality is pronounced. In 2025, August was the busiest month with 59.4 million overnight stays, about 12 percent of the annual total, while December recorded 32.0 million. In 2026, January had 25.4 million nights, June 48.8 million and July 58.4 million, so the peak summer month brings more than twice the business of the quietest winter month. Coastal states and campsites are the most seasonal, while city hotels and clinics fill more evenly across the year.

Domestic and foreign guests: 413.8 million vs 83.6 million nights

The split between German and foreign guests explains why recovery in Germany came earlier than in more international destinations. Domestic overnight stays fell only 33 percent in 2020, from 405.7 million to 270.3 million, and passed the 2019 level in 2023 with 406.3 million. Foreign overnight stays fell 64 percent, from 89.9 million to 32.0 million, and have still not returned to 2019: they reached 85.3 million in 2024 and slipped to 83.6 million in 2025, about 7 percent below the pre-pandemic level.

Foreign guests still lag: foreign overnight stays of 83.6 million in 2025 remain 7 percent below 2019, while domestic stays are 2 percent above.

Guest arrivals show the same pattern. There were 192.0 million arrivals in 2025, up 1.2 percent, of which 154.8 million were domestic and 37.2 million foreign, against 152.3 million and 37.5 million in 2024. Foreign guests stay slightly shorter on average, about 2.2 nights per arrival compared with 2.7 nights for domestic guests, whose total includes long stays in rehabilitation clinics. Where German residents themselves travel abroad is covered in our outbound tourism in European countries report.

Federal states: Bavaria 102.9 million nights, Bremen 3.0 million

Demand is highly concentrated in the south and on the coasts. Bavaria recorded 102.9 million overnight stays in 2025, more than one fifth of the national total and almost twice the next state. Baden-Wuerttemberg followed with 58.7 million, North Rhine-Westphalia with 55.5 million and Lower Saxony with 46.9 million. The coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, with 38.6 million, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with 34.3 million, are among the largest despite small populations.

Bavaria leads by far: 102.9 million nights in Bavaria, 20.7 percent of the national total, compared with 3.0 million in the smallest state, Bremen.

Growth in 2025 was strongest in smaller and northern states. Saarland rose 4.5 percent and Bremen 3.4 percent, followed by Hamburg at 2.1 percent, Lower Saxony at 1.8 percent and North Rhine-Westphalia at 1.7 percent. Several eastern states and Berlin declined: Berlin fell 3.8 percent, Saxony 1.5 percent, Saxony-Anhalt 1.4 percent and Brandenburg 0.7 percent. Hesse, home to the Frankfurt business travel market, fell 1.2 percent, reflecting weaker corporate travel covered in our business travel in Europe report.

Cities: Berlin 29.4 million nights, Munich 19.7 million

City tourism is a large and distinct segment. Berlin recorded 29.4 million overnight stays in 2025, more than any other German city, followed by Munich with 19.7 million and Hamburg with 16.5 million. Frankfurt am Main had 11.0 million, Cologne 7.2 million and Duesseldorf 5.7 million. Dresden, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Leipzig each recorded between 3.7 and 4.6 million.

Berlin still on top, but shrinking: Berlin recorded 29.4 million nights in 2025, down 3.8 percent, while Hamburg grew 2.1 percent to 16.5 million.

The ten largest cities together account for about 106 million nights, a fifth of the national total. Their performance diverged in 2025: Hamburg, Cologne and Duesseldorf grew by around 2 percent, while Berlin, Leipzig and Stuttgart fell by 3 to 4 percent. City hotels depend more on trade fairs, conferences and foreign visitors than rural and coastal accommodation, so they are more exposed to changes in business travel and international demand.

Foreign source markets: the Netherlands first with 11.7 million nights

The Netherlands is by far the largest foreign market for German accommodation, with 11.7 million overnight stays in 2025, reflecting short drives to the coast, the Eifel, the Sauerland and Bavaria and a strong camping culture. The United States was second with 6.9 million nights and Switzerland third with 6.7 million. The United Kingdom followed with 4.7 million, Austria with 4.4 million and Poland with 3.9 million.

Neighbours dominate: 8 of the top 10 foreign markets are European neighbours, led by the Netherlands with 11.7 million nights, 14 percent of all foreign stays.

The top ten markets together account for about 51.6 million of the 83.6 million foreign nights, or 62 percent. Only one long-haul market, the United States, is in the top ten, which makes German accommodation less dependent on air travel than destinations such as France or Italy. Most foreign guests arrive by car or train from neighbouring countries.

Accommodation types: hotels 298.6 million nights, camping 44.7 million

Hotels and similar establishments remain the core of the industry. In 2025 they accounted for 298.6 million overnight stays, or 60.0 percent, of which classic hotels recorded 195.4 million, hotels garnis offering only breakfast 78.6 million, inns 13.1 million and guesthouses 11.4 million. Holiday accommodation, including holiday homes and apartments, holiday centres and youth hostels, accounted for 97.0 million nights.

Hotels hold 60 percent: hotels, inns and guesthouses recorded 298.6 million of 497.4 million nights; campsites 44.7 million.

Camping was the growth driver of 2025. Overnight stays at campsites rose 4.2 percent, while stays in hotels fell 0.4 percent, so camping accounted for most of the national increase. Rehabilitation and prevention clinics are an unusual but large segment in Germany, with 47.1 million nights, because the statutory health and pension insurance systems pay for stays of several weeks. Comparable data for another large market are in our report on the hospitality industry in Canada.

Classic hotels alone account for almost two in five overnight stays, and hotels garnis for another 15.8 percent. Holiday homes and apartments in establishments with 10 or more beds recorded 55.7 million nights, but this is only part of the holiday rental market, since most private lets are too small to be counted and appear instead in the online platform data below. Youth hostels and mountain huts, with 17.5 million nights, remain important for school trips and group travel.

Online platforms: 68.3 million nights in small holiday lets

Official statistics exclude establishments with fewer than 10 beds, so Destatis publishes separate experimental data on holiday accommodation booked through online platforms. In 2025, 68.3 million nights were booked in Germany via Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia, up 13.0 percent on 2024 even though Tripadvisor no longer supplies data. About 94 percent of these nights were in properties with fewer than 10 beds.

Domestic guests booked 48.5 million platform nights, up 15.3 percent, and foreign guests 19.8 million, up 7.8 percent. Bavaria led with 10.6 million nights, a 15.5 percent share, followed by Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia with 8.1 million each and Lower Saxony with 8.0 million. For comparison, platform bookings were 37.2 million in 2019, so this segment has grown by 84 percent while the official total barely moved.

Turnover: record guests, falling real revenue

Record overnight stays have not translated into higher real turnover. Destatis reported that accommodation turnover fell 2.0 percent in real, price-adjusted terms in 2025, while rising 0.8 percent in nominal terms. For the hospitality sector as a whole, including restaurants and catering, real turnover fell 2.1 percent and nominal turnover rose 1.4 percent. Restaurants and bars fell 2.2 percent in real terms. Destatis puts total hospitality turnover at about 112 billion euros.

Price-driven revenue: accommodation turnover rose 0.8 percent in nominal terms but fell 2.0 percent in real terms in 2025.

The gap between nominal and real figures shows that prices rose by roughly 3 percent while selling slightly less in volume, once breakfast, spa and other services are included. Where costs for staff, energy and food rose faster than room rates, margins narrowed. Hotel markets elsewhere face different pressures, as our report on the hotel industry in China shows.

EU comparison: Germany fourth with 442.1 million nights

On the harmonised Eurostat measure, which excludes some establishment types such as clinics, Germany recorded 442.1 million nights at tourist accommodation in 2025. That places it fourth in the EU behind Spain with 513.6 million, Italy with 476.9 million and France with 471.7 million. Together, these four countries accounted for 61.7 percent of the nearly 3.1 billion nights recorded in the EU in 2025, which rose 2.2 percent.

Fourth in Europe: Germany recorded 442.1 million nights on the Eurostat measure, 71.5 million fewer than Spain.

The difference from the Destatis total of 497.4 million comes mainly from scope: Eurostat focuses on tourist accommodation and excludes some health and training establishments. The key contrast with the other large markets is the guest mix. International guest nights drove about three quarters of EU growth in 2025, rising 3.4 percent, while Germany saw foreign nights fall 1.8 percent. Domestic demand plays a similar anchoring role in France, as shown in our domestic tourism in France report.

Jobs and spending: 2.7 million people work in tourism

Accommodation is the core of a much wider tourism economy. According to the DTV, 2.7 million people, about 6 percent of all employed people in Germany, worked directly in tourism in 2024. Tourism generated about 144 billion euros of direct gross value added, 3.7 percent of the German total. Tourism consumption reached 392.1 billion euros, of which 292.3 billion euros came from domestic travellers, 58.6 billion euros from foreign visitors and 41.2 billion euros from other consumption.

Foreign visitors account for 16.8 percent of overnight stays and 58.6 billion euros, or about 15 percent, of tourism consumption. The rest comes mainly from German residents on holidays, day trips and business trips, which is why domestic demand decides the direction of the industry.

Outlook: record volumes, tighter margins

The data point to three trends for 2026. First, volumes are still rising slowly: the January to July 2026 total of 282.1 million nights is 0.9 percent above 2025 and slightly above 2019. Second, foreign guests are returning, with growth of 1.0 percent in the first seven months after a decline in 2025, although they remain below 2019. Third, profitability is under pressure, with real turnover falling in 2025 despite higher prices.

Growth is shifting towards camping, holiday rentals and smaller cities, while large city hotels depend on the recovery of business travel and trade fairs. The expansion of platform bookings, up 13.0 percent in 2025, suggests that an increasing share of demand is going to small holiday lets outside the official statistics. These official Destatis figures are provisional and will be revised when final annual results are published.

German accommodation in numbers

Aladdin questions answered with data