Is it the beer, schnitzel, pretzels, bread or culture that’s enticing more Aussies to travel on over to Germany?
Whatever it is, Australians are now playing a major role in the country’s growing tourism figures, which increased by 4.3 percent during the first four months of the year.
According to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office, between January and April there were 20 million overnights generated in Germany by international visitors. This was 800,000 more overnights than in the same period the year prior.
Australians made up 142,119 overnights – a 6.8 percent rise year-on-year.
The highest growth for international trips to Germany came from Asia, which made up 2.5 million overnights.
Visitors from Asia jumped by 12 percent on the prior year. This growth was driven by nationals from China, which made up 617,000 overnights.
Japan secured third place with 330,000 overnights, while South America proved to be an important source market for Destination Germany, with Brazil in first place for this region, generating an increase of 11.3 percent.
The remaining South American countries grew by 13 percent in terms of their Germany incoming numbers.
“We see a continuous increase in the popularity of Germany as a travel destination.”
Petra Hedorfer, German National Tourist Board Chief Executive Officer
The Netherlands continue to be Destinations Germany’s most important source market, maintaining their 2014 level with 2.2 million overnights through April.
Swiss travellers to Germany continue to benefit from the strong Swiss Francs compared with the Euro, helping them achieve a plus of 10.3 percent.
Disproportionately strong growth was generated by travellers from Great Britain (plus 6.7 percent), Italy (plus 5.1 percent), Poland (plus 4.6 percent) and Spain (plus 8.0 percent).
With a significant decrease of 31.6 percent, Russia drops back to eleventh place amongst the European source markets for Germany’s incoming tourism.