While the city’s heritage and rich cultural offering (more than twenty museums) provide major assets for attracting leisure clientele year round, business tourism remains central in this leading Fair city. The trade fair venue Koelnmesse hosts events such as Anuga (F&B), Art Cologne (modern and contemporary art), Dmexco (technology & digital), Gamescom (the largest European fair dedicated to video games), Intermot (two-wheel vehicles), and Photonika, dedicated to photography and visual industries.

Many corporations are based in Cologne, especially in the media and insurance sectors. Opened in 1388, Cologne University with its 50,000 students also contributes to the dynamism of this destination at the crossroads of Europe. With a population of more than one million, Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and the first in the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, a major economic hub.

In 2017 Cologne hosted 3.3 million visitors in its hotels. The main source markets remain the United Kingdom, the USA , the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium.

As of January 1, 2018 the hotel chain supply of the city reached 11,374 rooms.