Saxony's tourism down slightly - Chemnitz on the rise

A difficult economic situation, consumer restraint and geopolitical crises also had an impact on Saxony's tourism industry last year: The number of visitors to the Free State fell slightly. Around eight million guests visited Saxony in 2025. This corresponds to a decrease of 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.

Tourism is a reflection of the overall economic situation, said Barbara Klepsch, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, at the presentation of the figures in Dresden. In view of the difficult conditions, the almost stable figures are a success, said the CDU politician.

The clearest winner last year was Chemnitz and the surrounding area. Saxony's third-largest city recorded a 24.2 percent increase in visitors in the Capital of Culture year. In the wider region, including the city of Zwickau and the Ore Mountains, the increase was still just under ten percent. According to the CDU politician, this is a "strong figure" and shows "the power of culture in terms of tourism".

At the same time, this means "that we must not let up there". Occasions and major events are an important driver for Saxony's tourism and for maintaining around 190,000 full-time jobs in the tourism industry and associated sectors.

Increased interest in Saxony tourism from Taiwan

The tourism experts are pinning their hopes for the current year on the European hiking festival Eurorando, which, together with the German Hiking Day in September, will have its center in and around Oberwiesenthal in the Ore Mountains. In other regions of Saxony, the opening of Leipzig's city harbor in spring and the Lusatian Lakeland lake network in June should attract new guests.

According to the figures, around eleven percent of all visitors to Saxony came from abroad last year. In comparison, the largest decline in visitor numbers was recorded here, with a drop of around five percent. Poles accounted for the largest proportion of foreign visitors.

"The figures for 2025 are definitely not as we would have liked them to be," said Veronika Hiebl, Managing Director of Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen (TMGS). There is hope, however, in the growing interest of foreign guests from Asia, especially Taiwan. Hiebl also attributes this to Saxony's efforts to attract investment from the East Asian island state, including the construction of a chip factory in Dresden by semiconductor manufacturer TSMC.