Christian Günther, Managing Director of the Bundesverband der Campingwirtschaft in Deutschland e.V. published a summary released by the German Federal Statistical Office.
After the extraordinary results of 2018, 2019 marks a significant increase in overnight stays for tourists from Germany and abroad in German campsites. According to the latest data from the Federal Statistics Office, 35,756,382 overnight stays were distributed, a 3.5% growth compared to the previous year. The further increase, after the amazing summer of 2018, shows once again that the boom is a consolidated trend and camping is now, definitely, a competitive holiday formula.
The majority of overnight stays, 86.9%, were consumed by German campers, with a growth of 4.4% over the previous year. The number of overnight stays from abroad has slightly decreased, largely due to a drop in Dutch guests (-3.9%). With 2.3 million overnight stays, the Netherlands remain, however, the most important European market. The exit from the European Union and the relative uncertainty also reflected on arrivals from the United Kingdom, which decreased by 14%. Switzerland (+ 0.5%), Denmark (+ 3.0%) and Belgium (+ 1.4%), the most important markets for German tourism after the Netherlands, also showed a positive trend.
Bavaria, once again, defended its leading position among the German Lands, with 6.4 million overnight stays (+ 4.3%). Lower Saxony, which marks a 5.8% increase, surplaced Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the first time (5.1 million) and marks the second place with 5.2 million overnight stays.
With the exception of Hamburg, where the numbers have slightly decreased, all federal states have seen an increased number of overnight stays. The most significant ones occurred in Saarland (+ 17.6%), Berlin (+ 12.0%) and Saxony-Anhalt (+ 11.6%).
Gunter Riechey, president of the federal association of the German camping industry, is satisfied with the overall positive balance of the year. However, he points out that, especially given the growing spread of the coronavirus, it is now difficult to refer to the success of recent years.
Holidays in German campsites, in campers and caravans, mobile homes or tents are safer than the average of other types of holidays: the reasons lie in the fact that campers travel with their own means of transport and up to the camping lifestyle related to the potential risks of infection. All the campsites associated with the BVCD were, in fact, highly sensitized and invited to support more rigorous and accurate hygiene measures and to ensure that, through more significant cleaning cycles, the structures operate the necessary viral disinfection.
Source: Federal Statistical Office, monthly tourism survey – December 2019
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