In March 2025, German accommodation businesses recorded 32.7 million overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests. According to preliminary results announced by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday, this was 7.7 percent less than in March 2024. One reason for this decline could be the later Easter holidays and vacation periods in 2025 compared to 2024, which were mostly in March and almost entirely in April.
The number of domestic overnight stays decreased by 8.4 percent to 27.4 million, while the number of overnight stays by foreign guests decreased by 4.0 percent to 5.3 million compared to the same month in the previous year.
Looking at the overnight stays in different types of businesses, only other tourism-related accommodations, such as health and rehabilitation facilities and training centers, experienced a slight increase of 2.4 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. These businesses are less dependent on holidays or public holidays. On the other hand, there were significant decreases in other types of businesses. Camping sites saw a 41.8 percent drop to 0.9 million overnight stays and vacation apartments and homes experienced a 18.1 percent decrease to 5.4 million overnight stays. These two types of businesses are particularly popular for family vacations, which is why the later Easter holidays had a significant impact. Overnight stays at hotels, guesthouses and pensions decreased by 4.7 percent to 21.5 million.
In the first quarter of 2025, accommodation businesses in Germany recorded a total of 84.8 million overnight stays. This was 4.4 percent lower than the same period in the previous year, when a new record of 88.7 million overnight stays was set. The number of domestic overnight stays decreased by 4.8 percent to 70.2 million, while foreign overnight stays decreased by 2.6 percent to 14.6 million. The statisticians also noted that the later Easter holidays were a factor in these declines.