Guest and overnight stay figures 2023: Tourism in Frankfurt on course for success
In 2023, 10,351,226 overnight stays and 5,971,651 overnight guests were registered in Frankfurt am Main. This corresponds to an increase of 20.3 and 25.8 percent respectively compared to the previous year, making it the second-strongest result of all time. The tourism industry in our city has recovered significantly after the pandemic", said Lord Mayor Mike Josef at the press conference on the number of guests and overnight stays in the city of Frankfurt am Main on Friday, March 1. Together with Thomas Feda, Managing Director of Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main (TCF), Josef presented the evaluations, background and analyses of the 2023 guest and overnight figures.
Until the start of the pandemic, Frankfurt was able to achieve better results in terms of guest and overnight figures year after year. The coronavirus crisis interrupted these records. The year 2023 has finally set the course for success again.
In the domestic market, the figures rose to 3,867,859 guests (+ 22.7 percent) and 6,337,855 overnight stays (+ 17 percent). Domestic guests accounted for 64.8 percent of the total number of overnight stays. "The figures are therefore not only above the pre-pandemic level (+ 4.5% in overnight stays compared to 2019), but also represent a new record result for domestic visitors," said TCF Managing Director Feda. "The result shows that we are on the right track with our strategy and investments in the tourism location," said Lord Mayor Josef.
A significant increase was also recorded from foreign source markets compared to the previous year: 4,013,371 (+26 percent) overnight stays and 2,103,792 (+31.7 percent) guests. Compared to the level before the pandemic, there was still a 15 percent drop in overnight stays. Guests from abroad accounted for 35.2 percent of the total number of overnight stays.
The European source markets in particular achieved significant growth: Great Britain (265,299 overnight stays, + 29.9 percent) was ahead of the Netherlands (182,781 overnight stays, + 17.0 percent), Spain (170,292 overnight stays, + 5.7 percent) and Italy (169,814 overnight stays, + 10.9 percent).
With a total of 1,960,742 overnight stays (+ 44.1 percent) from overseas, the USA continued to account for the largest contingent of guests with 693,140 overnight stays (+ 30.7 percent). Unlike before the pandemic, however, this was not followed by China, but by two European source markets: Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Second place in terms of overnight stay volume among overseas markets was achieved by China and Hong Kong (166,915, + 169.5 percent) ahead of the Arab Gulf States (150,131, + 18.9 percent) and Japan (98,822, + 85.8 percent). "We expect significant growth in the coming years, especially from the Asian markets," said the TCF Managing Director optimistically.
Frankfurt's accommodation industry also recovered much faster than expected after the pandemic years and, in terms of bed capacity, recorded a significant increase compared to the previous year and 2019 (64.042 beds, + 6 percent compared to 2022 and + 7.1 percent compared to 2019).
The number of accommodation establishments increased by three to 281 compared to 2022. Compared to 2019, however, the number has fallen by 30 establishments. "Obviously, larger establishments with a large number of beds have been added, while some smaller establishments are no longer open," concluded Feda.
The average bed occupancy rate has risen to 44.3 percent (+5.3 percent compared to 2022). This corresponds to a room occupancy rate of around 63 percent. The average length of stay fell from 1.81 to 1.73 days.
Mayor Josef said: "I am very pleased about the positive development of guest and overnight stay figures in our city. The TCF's expectation that we will even exceed the pre-pandemic level this year shows how attractive Frankfurt is for guests from all over the world. And it also shows how hospitable the people of Frankfurt are. I would like to thank everyone for that. At the same time, we are well advised not only to focus on ever more growth, but also to develop new measures, such as intelligent visitor guidance."
The complete guest and overnight stay figures for Frankfurt am Main in 2023 can be found online at frankfurt-tourismus.de/Presse/Publikationen/Statistiken.
