Mia Taylor
Last updated: Friday, May 24, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Germany’s travel and tourism industry has recovered much slower than many other major European destinations.
Newly released data from the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2024 Economic Impact Review (EIR) has found that domestic tourism “underpins” the entire tourism industry in Germany.
Meanwhile, the country’s international travel spending remains low and below pre-pandemic levels.
Furthermore, the WTTC said today that Germany’s travel and tourism sector has yet to recover its GDP contribution and jobs lost during the pandemic.
The international tourism organization’s latest study puts tourism’s contribution to Germany’s GDP at just over 453 billion euros ($491 billion) in 2023, 13.5 billion euros ($14.6 billion) below 2019 levels.
According to the WTTC, employment levels in travel and tourism increased by about 5% to 6.18 million people, but this figure is still about 250,000 below 2019 employment levels.
Spending by international tourists is expected to fall by more than 25% from 2019, totalling 14 billion euros ($15 billion) by 2023.
The one bright spot for Germany’s travel and tourism industry is burgeoning growth in domestic tourism, with domestic tourist spending set to fully recover in 2023, exceeding 2019 levels by €2.9 billion ($3.15 billion).
The WTTC said the fact was “evidence that domestic travellers are leading the tourism industry’s post-pandemic recovery”.
“Germany’s travel and tourism industry is showing signs of recovery but there is still a long way to go and the recent air passenger tax increase will undoubtedly hinder that recovery,” WTTC chair and CEO Julia Simpson said in a statement. “Domestic tourist spending has remained strong, but tax increases will only slow the recovery.”
“The German government should consult with the travel and tourism industry and plan ways to stimulate the return of international tourists, who are an important driver of the economy,” she added.
Berlin, Germany (Photo credit: AdobeStock)
Predictions for 2024
This year is set to be a mixed one for Germany’s travel and tourism industry, according to WTTC data: the sector’s overall GDP contribution is forecast to recover in 2024, but the recovery is unlikely to be industry-wide.
In particular, employment and international tourist spending are expected to be below 2019 levels. The WTTC forecasts that Germany’s travel and tourism industry will contribute about 469 billion euros ($508 billion) to the German economy this year, up just 0.5% from 2019.
Moreover, payrolls are expected to rise by 160,000 this year, 80,000 below the pre-pandemic high.
And finally, foreign tourist spending in Germany will fall sharply again this year: The WTTC predicts a deficit of 5.1 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in 2024 compared to five years ago, nearly 10 percent lower than in 2019.
But domestic tourist spending remains a bright spot, forecast to continue growing slowly this year, up 1.2 percent to nearly 411 billion euros ($445 billion), according to the WTTC.
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