Germany’s camping market rebounds strongly in July, with overnight stays up 11.3%

Germany’s camping market recorded a strong rebound in July 2026, bringing the sector back into positive territory after a slightly weaker first half of the year. According to the latest figures from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), cited by the Bundesverband der Campingwirtschaft in Deutschland (BVCD), German campsites recorded 2.88 million arrivals in July, an increase of 13.8% compared with July 2025. Overnight stays reached 9.49 million, up 11.3% year on year.

The July results significantly changed the cumulative picture for the year. Between January and July, camping arrivals were 3.8% higher than in the same period of 2025, while overnight stays increased by 3.0%. This compares with the slight declines recorded at the end of the first half of the year, when arrivals were down 0.5% and overnight stays 1.1%.

International demand remains an important driver

The international market continues to play an important role in the recovery. During the first half of 2026, foreign arrivals had already increased by 4.6%, while the Netherlands, Germany’s largest foreign source market for camping, recorded growth of 7.1%. By the end of July, Dutch demand had strengthened further: arrivals from the Netherlands were 7.6% higher than a year earlier, while overnight stays increased by 10.2%, according to the BVCD. Both figures were well above the overall camping market growth rates.

The broader German accommodation market also recorded growth in July. Destatis reported 58.4 million overnight stays across all types of accommodation, 3.2% more than in July 2025. For January-July, total accommodation overnight stays reached 282.1 million, 0.9% above the previous year and slightly above the previous record for the period, set in 2019.

For camping, however, the final outcome of the year remains open. The BVCD notes that whether 2026 will set a new annual record will only become clear once the full-year figures are available in March 2027. In other words, July has clearly improved the picture for German camping, but the available data do not yet establish whether 2026 will surpass the 2025 record of around 44.7 million overnight stays.