With 26.5 million overnight stays and 10.4 million guests, tourism in the city has recovered significantly in 2022, according to the Berlin-Brandenburg State Office for Statistics.
The number of overnight stays in 2022 achieved 78% of the pre-crisis levels, with guest numbers equal to about 75% of those in 2019.
Stephan Schwarz, Berlin senator for economics, energy and public enterprises said: “Last year’s tourism figures show where the road is leading: Berlin. Despite the volatile global situation in 2022, we were still able to make a comeback with regard to tourism and the conference industry, which was crucial for the city’s economic power. For us, it doesn’t just boil down to getting higher, faster, further. Instead, we used our restart programme to support a broad range of measures geared toward quality and that present Berlin as a hub of diversity, with a broad spectrum of things to offer beyond the usual attractions.
“Berlin, London, Paris, and New York make up the league of most popular city destinations, and I believe that this positive growth will continue in the coming years. However, this means that Berlin’s connections with international transport routes must be further expanded. This applies both to trains – with more connections within Germany and neighbouring countries, in particular Eastern Europe, and the night train network – and to the expansion of direct long- and mid-distance connections from BER Airport.”
Burkhard Kieker, visitBerlin CEO, added: “Berlin has claimed its position as one of the top three most popular destinations, alongside Paris and London. People appreciate the culture and what our global city has to offer.”
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, says visitBerlin, and most visitors to the city are arriving by train. According to a visitBerlin survey, the majority of train users would be willing to spend up to 10 hours on trains to visit Berlin.
Conference business picks up speed
Last year, Berlin hosted a variety of top-class B2B events and conferences, especially in the medical sector. These included the World Congress of the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society in April, and the World Congress of the International Society for Heart Research and the World Health Summit in October.
The WeAreDevelopers World Congress, one of the largest developer conferences in the world, was held in June. The organisers of business events are also increasingly prioritising sustainability, and 43% of the events funded by the Berlin Congress Fund in 2022 were funded on the basis of sustainability criteria.
Business at Berlin’s tourist attractions, museums, and memorials also improved in 2022, with around 80 per cent of the guest numbers from 2019.
Berlin continued to welcome more international guests in 2022. The USA was the chief international market, ahead of the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain.
A Europe-wide ‘Restart Media Roadshow’ with events in Paris, Rome, London, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Oslo, Barcelona, and Madrid, coupled with other media and influencer events in New York City, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale, made Berlin more visible in international travel media.
The visitBerlin Convention Office also established a MICE Acquisition Taskforce in 2022 and one of the biggest funding measures for the events industry was Bestival 2022: which drew 800 German and international representatives from the events and travel industries to Berlin for an innovative, festive event on 25 and 26 August. The Berlin Congress Fund established in April 2021 by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises to support the conference and congress industry, was extended to late 2023, and the total funding per event was nearly doubled.
Photo: © visitBerlin, Foto: Dirk Mathesius
