Tourism annual review 2025: Berlin maintains its leading position in Europe

Berlin, 18 February 2026 Berlin is one of Europe's most popular city break destinations. Last year, the city's more than 700 accommodation providers recorded 29.4 million overnight stays by around 12.4 million guests. In a challenging economic and geopolitical environment, Berlin is maintaining its position among the leading city destinations and is consistently focusing on the sustainable, city-compatible development of tourism. The current figures from the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office were presented today at a press conference in the Data Space at Hackescher Markt by Berlin's Mayor and Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey and visitBerlin's managing directors Sabine Wendt and Burkhard Kieker.

Franziska Giffey, Berlin's Mayor and Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises: "With almost 30 million overnight stays and over 12 million guests, we can clearly state that Berlin's appeal remains undiminished. Our city is internationally regarded as a place of longing and a world-class cultural metropolis. Berlin tourism is holding its own even in difficult times with changed travel and consumer behaviour. The current figures show that we are maintaining roughly the same level as last year. This means that we are still one of the few cities worldwide to achieve such visitor numbers. Our focus for 2026 is clear: with targeted investments and close cooperation, we will strengthen tourism as one of the city's most important economic factors. At the same time, we will continue to work on improving Berlin's international connections and attracting further major events to the city. 2026 will be a promising year with the ILA and Innotrans, which always take place in even-numbered years."

Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin: "Berlin is and remains a strong travel destination. 2025 was a challenging year. Berlin has asserted itself as an international cultural metropolis and a city of freedom that inspires people worldwide. Guests from China and India are increasingly coming to Berlin. Congress tourism is also growing. We are therefore optimistic about the future."

International markets and new growth drivers
With 17.34 million overnight stays by 7.9 million guests, Germany remained the most important source market for Berlin tourism in 2025. At the same time, the international market is a key pillar: around 41 per cent of all overnight stays in 2025 were accounted for by guests from abroad. The USA was the largest foreign market with around 1.28 million overnight stays. The most important European country of origin was the United Kingdom with around 1.27 million overnight stays, followed by the Netherlands (786,400), Spain (711,500) and Italy (653,000). Even though the established markets recorded slight declines compared to the previous year, they remain central to Berlin tourism.

New markets are also gaining in importance. In 2025, guest numbers from Turkey (+8.5 per cent overnight stays) and overseas from China (+14.4 per cent), India (+10.0 per cent), Israel (+9.5 per cent) and Canada (+6.6 per cent) developed particularly positively. This momentum shows that Berlin also has potential in future markets beyond the traditional source markets. 

The visitor economy is a fundamental pillar of Berlin's economy, extending far beyond hotels and generating gross value added of 8.4 billion euros with tourist consumption of 15.1 billion euros. 224,800 people live directly or indirectly from tourism in Berlin.

Strong momentum from major events and conferences
Berlin's events and conference industry is an important driver of demand and international image. In 2025, the number of events rose by 5.6 per cent, while the number of participants increased by as much as 26.8 per cent (source: Visitor Insight). The ESMO Congress 2025 underscored the importance of the congress business for Berlin: with over 37,000 participants, the world's leading oncology event was one of the largest congresses ever held in the capital. Major events such as Berlin Freedom Week, the public event "49h ICC" and New Year's Eve at the Brandenburg Gate also generated international visibility.

Leading medical congresses, international trade fairs and major events contribute significantly to value creation. Numerous high-profile events are also scheduled for 2026, including the German Cancer Congress, which is currently taking place, DMEA – Connecting Digital Health, the ESMO Breast Cancer Congress and the World Health Summit. In addition, there are leading international trade fairs such as ILA and InnoTrans, as well as technology and business formats such as IFA Berlin, SuperReturn International, WeAreDevelopers WorldCongress, GITEX Europe and re:publica.

visitBerlin continues to develop tourism with a focus on the future
visitBerlin is providing targeted impetus for the further development of tourism in Berlin in 2026. "We are strengthening Berlin's visitor economy strategically, sustainably and digitally," says Sabine Wendt, CEO of visitBerlin. "With events, neighbourhood offers and data-based solutions, we are working together to shape tourism in a way that benefits guests and Berliners alike." 

With the "Berlin Paper" and the newly founded Berlin Event Board as an initiative for more major events, Berlin is expanding its position as a sustainable event location. BerlinPay is also creating its own adaptation of the Copenhagen model CopenPay, which rewards travellers for environmentally friendly behaviour. Cooperation with Berlin's twelve districts is also continuing: a neighbourhood campaign will once again highlight local attractions in 2026 in order to better distribute visitor flows.

Berlin is using digital innovations to further develop data-based tourism, from the visitBerlin data hub with around 240,000 data records as the basis for the structured exchange of tourist information, to the AI-supported chatbot Berlynn on visitBerlin.de, to the Berlin Convention Finder with an AI search that leads to tailor-made providers in the conference and congress sector. 

Looking ahead, visitBerlin is working with the industry on a model based on the "Sentient City" concept to improve the quality of the visitor experience through technology and establish tourism as a positive factor for urban development and human encounters.

Outlook for 2026: diversity, culture, new hotels and international appeal
With a strong year for trade fairs and conferences, international cultural highlights and major events, Berlin is looking ahead to 2026 with optimism. Details. 

This forward-looking approach is also reflected in Berlin's hotel landscape: in addition to new buildings, 2026 will be characterised above all by extensive modernisation of large hotels such as Marriott, Hilton, Bristol and Esplanade. At the same time, recent new openings such as The Dean and the Me and All Hotel Berlin East Side by Hyatt are providing significant impetus for Berlin's hotel industry. Further highlights include future projects such as the Estrel Tower, which will be Germany's tallest hotel, the Ocean Berlin with hotel, sustainable revitalisations such as the Clayton Hotel Tiergarten, and the Four Seasons comeback planned for 2027 at the Hotel de Rome. More.

Berlin's appeal as a travel destination is also confirmed in international rankings: the capital is one of the ten best cities in the world, one of the four most sustainable cities and ranks second among the best solo travel destinations. The Berlin Marathon, Europe's most popular marathon, and Berlin's reputation as a leading live music metropolis underline the city's international appeal.. Details.

Press Kit

Berlin-Highlights 2026 

Neue Hotels

Berlin in Rankings 

Press Release Amts für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg

All the information you need for a visit to Berlin at visitBerlin.de.