Until May, in some cases even in June, campsites in Germany could not accept anyone or have only a limited number of tourists due to the prohibitions linked to Corona. It is therefore not surprising that the German camping sector recorded, at the end of May 2021, a decrease in overnight stays (1,902,149) of 32% compared to the previous year. Federal states that opened up to tourism relatively early compared to others benefited from the situation. These include Schleswig-Holstein (555,948 overnight stays), Lower Saxony (394,607 overnight stays) and Bavaria (310,902 overnight stays).
These data are the results of the monthly tourism survey conducted by the Statistischem Bundesamt, the Federal Statistical Office, and published by the Bundesverband der Campingwirtschaft in Deutschland e.V. (BVCD), the Federal Association of the German Camping Industry.
According to the BVCD, after the bans ended, there was a very high increase in demand in most of the federal states and therefore excellent occupation of the campsites. The camping boom, which has lasted for a long time, is still uninterrupted, also helped by the high number of RVs sales. However, in some regions of Germany, the results of the coming months will be adversely affected by heavy rains and flood damage. In addition, German campers are increasingly going abroad.
“In 2021 compared to 2020, we expect a slightly worse result for the whole of Germany: about 33.5 million overnight stays. This is due to the late lifting of the overnight stay ban compared to the previous year, the increase in stays at the abroad, but also due to meteorological factors”, comments Gunter Riechey, President of the BVCD. “However, the situation is very different in the individual federal states. For example, Schleswig-Holstein will be able to reach record results, thanks to the early opening. Camping holidays, surrounded by nature, are still in trend and German campsites benefit from it”.
Roel Masselink – Camping.care