By Oliver Ohmann
Berlin is overflowing with tourists and the long holidays begin on Thursday. We asked the tourism experts for numbers and trends. Who comes to Berlin – and where are Berliners going?
The most popular summer travel destination for Berliners was, is and remains: Mallorca. According to tour operator TUI, this season is again in first place. Antalya (Turkey) and Crete (Greece) follow.
“Crete is the biggest winner in 2023,” says TUI spokesman Aage Dünhaupt. “Almost every fifth trip of our Berlin customers leads to Greece. Turkey is also growing strongly, with 15 percent traveling there.”
But it can also be further. “Thailand is making a real comeback with growth of over 150 percent and is second in the long-haul rankings, followed by Indonesia, Maldives and Mexico. The USA remains at the forefront with the largest number of guests.”
Berliners like to travel to the USA – what about the Americans? According to Visit Berlin, the passion is mutual. Most non-European tourists traveling to Berlin come from the United States. In 2022, 342,614 US citizens came and stayed one million times.
“The international guests are returning, that’s the trend,” says a spokesman for the Berlin tourism professionals. The numbers normalized noticeably after the Corona slump in 2022: “Berlin is the most popular city break destination in Germany.”
More than a million tourists are currently arriving every month. Around two thirds of the tourists come from Germany. In Europe, the British are particularly hot for Berlin (340,000 came in 2022), followed by the Dutch (267,000), Spaniards (187,000) and French (182,000).
Travel facts at a glance
► The favorite island of Berliners is Mallorca
► 10.4 million visitors travel to Berlin every year, staying an average of three times
► Most foreign guests in Berlin come from the USA: 342,000
► The favorite long-distance travel destination of Berliners is the USA (before Thailand and Indonesia)
► Every 5th Berliner booked (at TUI) Greece, every 6th a holiday in Turkey