Germany: Domestic travel reaches record high in 2025

Germany

German travelers took 169 million overnight domestic trips, while international travel declined sharply and business travel almost returned to pre-pandemic levels

Travel demand in Germany remained high in 2025 but shifted noticeably towards domestic destinations. German residents made a total of 274 million private and business trips involving at least one overnight stay at home or abroad, down 1.1% from 2024.

Behind the modest overall decline were two contrasting trends. Domestic travel increased significantly, while the number of trips abroad fell. At the same time, business travel continued its recovery towards pre-pandemic levels.

Domestic trips rise to 169 million

The number of overnight domestic trips increased by 3.9% year-on-year to 169 million in 2025, setting a new record. The figure was also 5.0% above the level recorded in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.

International travel moved in the opposite direction. German residents made 105 million trips abroad, 8.3% fewer than in 2024. Despite the decline, outbound travel remained 5.4% above its 2019 level.

The ranking of Germany's most popular international destinations remained largely unchanged. Italy led with 12.4% of all outbound trips, followed by Austria at 11.1% and Spain at 10.9%. France accounted for 8.3% and the Netherlands for 7.7%. These five countries have remained Germany's leading outbound destinations for the past decade, although their positions have occasionally changed.

Business travel increases by more than 10%

Business travel was a major contributor to the increase in domestic trips. The number of business journeys rose by 10.5% compared with 2024 to 41 million.

This brought the segment to within just 0.2% of its 2019 level, indicating an almost complete recovery from the sharp decline experienced during the pandemic years.

Private travel, by contrast, weakened slightly. German residents made around 233 million private trips in 2025, down 2.9% from the previous year. In the longer-term comparison, however, private travel remained strong, with volumes 6.2% above 2019.

Cars remain the dominant mode of transport

Cars continued to dominate overnight travel by German residents. In 2025, 60.2% of all domestic and international trips involving at least one overnight stay were made by car.

Rail accounted for 19.2% of trips, while air travel represented 15.2%. Coaches had a considerably smaller share at 2.7%.

The figures are based on the tourism demand statistics published by Germany's Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, covering both private and business trips involving at least one overnight stay.