In Germany, the number of people who camped on camping sites last year reached a record high, with almost 42.9 million guest overnights, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This represents a 1.4% increase from the previous year (42.3 million) and a 19.9% increase from the pre-COVID year of 2019 (35.8 million). Apart from the years 2020 and 2021, which were characterized by travel restrictions and accommodation bans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of camping overnights has been increasing almost continuously in recent years. In the past 20 years, the number of camping overnights has more than doubled: in 2004, camping sites in Germany recorded 21.4 million overnights. For comparison, the number of overnight stays across all accommodation businesses increased by 46.4% in the same period.
Roughly one in twelve (8.6%) of the total 496 million guest overnights in 2024 occurred on camping sites. In the COVID year of 2020, every ninth overnight stay (11.2%) was on camping sites, as the overall number of overnight stays dropped more significantly than the number of camping overnights. Since then, the share of camping overnights has decreased, but remained above the pre-COVID level of 7.2% in 2019.
The most popular destinations for campers in 2024 were the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea coast with 3.4 million overnights, followed by the Black Forest (2.6 million), the Lower Saxon North Sea coast (1.9 million), the Bavarian Allgäu (nearly 1.8 million) and Vorpommern (1.7 million) and the Mecklenburgian Baltic Sea coast (over 1.6 million), which outperformed the Bodensee-Oberschwaben region (nearly 1.6 million) that was among the top five camping destinations in 2023.
Camping guests from abroad were particularly drawn to the southwestern region of Germany, according to the statisticians. They spent the most nights in the Black Forest (739,000), followed by the Mosel-Saar region (338,000), the Rhineland-Palatinate Eifel (256,000), Bodensee-Oberschwaben (226,000) and the Bavarian Allgäu (160,000) in 2024.
Measured against the share of camping overnights to all accommodation overnights, the Franconian Lake District was once again the top camping destination in 2024, with almost half (45.8%) of all guests staying on camping sites. Also in the Lausitzer Seenland (36.3%), Hegau at the Bodensee (31.2%), Holsteinische Schweiz (30.0%) and Mecklenburgische Schweiz and Seenplatte (24.6%), camping accounted for a high share of all overnights. Nationally, the share in 2024 was on average 8.6%.
The prices for overnight stays on camping sites have increased more rapidly than the overall prices for overnight stays in recent years, according to the Federal Office. In 2024, overnight stays on a motorhome site were 27.7% more expensive than in the first COVID year of 2020. The increase in camping site fees was somewhat more moderate at 24.6% compared to 2020. For comparison, overnight stays across all accommodation types increased by 23.1% in the same period and consumer prices overall rose by 19.3% compared to 2020.