BERLIN’S TOURISM PREPARING FOR TRAVELERS

In 2020, Berlin recorded only a third of the number of tourists to the city of the previous year due to the corona pandemic. According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office, 4.9 million visitors spent around 12.3 million nights (-64%) in Berlin’s tourist establishments during the year. Compared to the record year of 2019, which saw an incredible 14 million tourists visit the city, the number of tourists has dropped by almost 65%.

Visitor numbers to Berlin fell to the same level as in 2001, with German visitors accounting for around 70% of overnight stays, while 30% were international visitors, mainly British, Dutch and Spanish visitors. . Visitors from the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Spain and Italy fell by 76.5% – more than three-quarters – to 1.3 million. Their overnight stays are down 76 percent to 3.7 million.

After a promising start to the year in January and February, the first lockdown lasted from March 22 to May 25, 2020. During the summer months, hotels managed to capture more than 47 percent of the number of overnight stays in 2019. In 2020, Berlin’s tourist attractions accounted for almost 40% of the previous year’s visitor traffic – according to the Visitor Insight market research tool.

Preparations to resume

Ramona Popp, Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Operations, said: “The Corona crisis has hit the tourism and convention industry with full force. We have made strong efforts to support the industry with various funding instruments and relief measures. React quickly. The day when Berlin will be reborn as a cosmopolitan metropolis. We are preparing for this day together with Visit Berlin to give tourism a great start.

Burkhard Kecker, managing director of Berlin’s tourism marketing company VisitBerlin, pointed out: “Corona has given a strong lift to tourism, gastronomy, trade fairs and congresses in Berlin, as well as showing how important the industry is to the economy and culture. Important. Our city. Together with the Senate Department of Economics, Energy and Operations, we introduced hygiene concepts for events in 2020, from offering museums and attractions to arranging time slot tickets. , made possible everything from short-term marketing campaigns. We anticipate the impact for Berlin when travel becomes possible again. We are already preparing for this phase together with the Senate and industry.”

A third of Germans want to travel to Berlin again.

A recent study on travel behavior by the German Institute for Tourism Research (DEST 2020) shows that around 33% of Germans would like to travel to Berlin in the next twelve months. What is important to them is compliance with hygiene and distance rules, cancellation conditions, and honest communication through accommodation and travel destination. 63% prefer to travel by car.

For tourists and Berliners, the re-opening of the new National Gallery, the Humboldt Forum, the opening of Inoha Children’s World at the Jewish Museum, the Long Night of Science and high-speed sightseeing trips on the extended U5 subway line are all underway. Agenda 2021