Oops! tourism takes a dip - Q1 numbers down due to delayed Easter holidays
Tourism numbers plummet in Q1 due to delayed Easter holidays
Hit the brakes on the travel plans, folks! German tourism in the first quarter of 2025 is looking a bit grim, thanks to a later Easter celebration this year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the total number of overnight stays in January through March dropped by a whopping 4.4% compared to the previous year, with a record-breaking 88.7 million stays in 20241.
That's a rough decrease of 4.8 million stays by domestic guests and 1.8 million fewer visits from foreign tourists. The most significant drop was observed in March, with a 7.7% decline in overnight stays, totaling 32.7 million1. But chill, it seems like this trend was mostly due to the shift in Easter holidays.
The statisticians explain that in 2024, Easter holidays were mostly in March, while in 2025, they fell almost entirely in April. This shift created a temporal wave, causing many travelers to postpone their trips to subsequent months, resulting in a reduction of tourism activity during Q12.
Fun fact, other tourism-relevant accommodations, such as health and rehabilitation facilities and training centers, reported a slight increase of 2.4% in March. This type of operation is less dependent on holidays or holiday periods1. The decline was most pronounced in campsites, holiday apartments, houses, and hotels, which saw a decrease of 41.8%, 18.1%, 4.7%, and 4.8%, respectively1. These types of accommodations are particularly popular for family holidays, so the late Easter holidays hit them the hardest.
But don't worry, the travel slump seems to have been short-lived! April 2025 saw an all-time monthly record for German tourist arrivals, compensating for the drop in Q12. It's clear that the shift in holiday timing created a ripple effect, causing a dip in tourism activity during Q1 before a rebound in subsequent months. So let's pack our bags and hit the road...as soon as Easter arrives!
It appears that the community policy for vacation accommodations during holidays might need to be re-evaluated, especially for family-oriented establishments like campsites, holiday apartments, houses, and hotels. Given the significant decrease in occupancy rates in these types of accommodations during the first quarter of 2025, vocational training programs focusing on the tourism industry could potentially be a valuable investment for reinforcing tourism resilience and adaptability to temporal holiday shifts.
