Berlin expects more than 30 million overnight stays in 2024

However, the number of overnight stays in the record year of 2019 before the start of the pandemic was significantly higher at 34.1 million. Nevertheless, the proportion of international overnight stays rose to over 40 percent last year for the first time since 2019. Guests from overseas and other European countries in particular were initially slow to return after the pandemic.

As before, the majority of visitors to Berlin (59.7%) came from Germany - a total of 17,668,000. In terms of visitors from abroad, the UK was in first place with 1.3 million overnight stays, followed by the USA with 1.2 million, the Netherlands with 843,000 and Spain with 642,500.000 and Spain with 642,500 overnight stays.

The positive development in tourist numbers from the UK, with an increase of a good 35 percent, is due in particular to the fact that there has been a significant improvement in flight connections, said Kieker. This is precisely where he and Giffey still see a considerable need for action.

Further growth is hardly possible without more flight connections. In the view of the Senator for Economic Affairs, this is a "top priority" for tourism in Berlin. Berlin and the eastern federal states are still at a disadvantage compared to western Germany in terms of air traffic.