Germany Reports Growing Visitor Numbers

The Federal Statistical Office of Germany reported that the country has welcomed close to 20 million overnight stays by international visitors between January and April 2015.

This represents a 4.3 per cent year over year increase, or 800,000 more overnight stays than the same period last year

The results included accommodation providers that offered ten or more beds to visitors, including campgrounds.

The figures for UK travellers were even better, with 1,400,847 overnight stays in the first four months, which translates to a 6.7 per cent improvement over last year.

"We are registering a continuous and steady increase in the popularity of Germany as a travel destination," explained Petra Hedorfer, chief executive of the German National Tourist Board.

"We've had an improvement on the 2014's numbers in each of the first four months of this year.

"Emerging Asian markets particularly, such as China, have been increasing their German traveller numbers considerably.

"Additionally, South American countries recorded double digit growth. We can also reveal that Brazil was the most important incoming market for Germany from South America."

The top ten most important European markets for travel to Germany continued to remain almost unchanged: The Netherlands is still Germany's most important source market, retaining their 2014 numbers, with 2.2 million overnights in the first four months.

Swiss travellers to Germany benefited from the strong Swiss Franc, helping them achieve an increase of 10.3 per cent.