Recovery Prospects for Germany’s Incoming Tourism after a Challenging First Half of 2025

Germany

After a first half marked by trade disputes and geopolitical tensions that unsettled consumers in many source markets, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) now sees signs of renewed interest among potential visitors from key markets for the remainder of the year, according to current market research data and studies by international institutes.

Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB, said:

“Germany remains an attractive destination in an international comparison. This is confirmed by a consumer survey we commissioned in early August across twelve source markets, which found that 54.6 per cent still intend to travel to Germany within the next six months.”

According to the Federal Statistical Office, international overnight stays in June 2025 totalled 7.6 million – down 12.7% year-on-year. This decline is largely due to the record figures in June 2024 during the UEFA European Football Championship. Over the first half of 2025, there were 36.4 million overnight stays by international visitors, a 3.2% drop compared to the same period last year. Excluding the “UEFA EURO effect,” this represents a 4.0% increase versus the first half of 2023.

Data from MKG Consulting confirm the EURO effect in the hotel sector: in June 2025, occupancy rates were 5.5 percentage points lower than a year earlier. For the first half of the year as a whole, occupancy averaged around 65%, roughly matching 2024 levels, with a slight shift towards higher hotel categories.

International air arrivals also declined slightly – by 4.2% year-on-year at the end of June 2025 – according to Forward Keys. This is partly due to flight capacities to and from Germany, which remain 20% below pre-pandemic levels. Industry associations point to higher air traffic control fees and Germany’s air passenger tax as factors slowing recovery compared with other European destinations.

The European Travel Commission (ETC) offers a more optimistic outlook for the second half of the year. Its Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel (MSIET) survey from May 2025 shows that 77.2% of Europeans plan to travel between June and November – five percentage points more than in the spring survey. There is also a growing preference for late summer travel: while in 2024, 39% of respondents planned their summer holidays for August or September, this year the figure is 47%.

Germany ranks among the top five European destinations for summer 2025, alongside Spain, Italy, Greece, and France. According to MSIET, the most important factors influencing Europeans’ choice of destination are safety, stable weather, and competitive pricing. The positive trends towards higher travel spending and slightly longer stays, noted in the previous survey, remain unchanged.