In July 2012, Germany forges ahead

Results that are not surprising when we look at the positive performance of tourism in Germany. Between January and June 2012, the country saw 30 million foreign overnight stays, that is, 9% more than in 2011. These statistics demonstrate the growth in popularity of Germany as a tourist destination, in particular amongst French visitors. Over the first five months of the year, they were responsible for 1.1 million overnight stays, a rise of 8%. It is Berlin that benefits the most from this, with the number of French overnight stays up by 19%. Ernst Burgbacher, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and Federal Government Commissioner for Tourism, is delighted with this performance: “Tourism in Germany follows an upward trend and shows an excellent half-yearly outcome. The positive development in the first half of 2012 confirms our hopes of achieving a new record for foreign overnight stays in 2012, for the third consecutive year.” Germany should reach its objective of a new record for the year 2012, as confirmed by the stability of hotel activity in the month of July despite the slowdown in the number of conferences and fairs. Occupancy rates in the country have reach 67.7%, 0.6% more than in July 2011, but it is the 1.5% rise in average daily rates that is responsible for the increased in RevPar. These have reached 82.7 euros for a RevPar of 56 euros, that is 2.5% more than the 54.6 euros observed last year. « Despite the crisis, Germany has defended itself throughout the first semester and at an international level. The pursuit of development of inbound tourism in the upcoming months will be determined in large part by the development of business tourism and will impact annual tourism results in Germany. Indeed, almost a third...