Berlin, 23 August 2013 Berlin remains an attraction for visitors. In the first half of 2013, Berlin visitors spent 12.4 million nights in the German capital, according to data released by the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office. This represents an increase of 9.2 per cent over the same period last year. Berlin had 5.3 million visitors (+ 5%) in the first half of 2013.

"We are active on all continents and in 39 countries", says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitberlin. "Our goal is to continue to expand the proportion of guests who come to Berlin from abroad. Therefore we are already working in those markets that we expect to bring additional growth in a few years. The South Americans and the Chinese are just discovering Berlin."

High Growth in International Visitor Numbers

In the first half of the year, two million visitors (+ 7.3%) came to Berlin from abroad. The number of nights spent in the city by foreign tourists increased by 11.4 per cent to more than 5 million. High growth rates were seen among guests from India (+ 28%), China (+ 27%) and Brazil (+ 10.5%), as well as Russia (+ 19.7%), Poland (+ 14.4%) and Sweden (+ 10.9%).

Meanwhile, 3.4 million Germans visited their capital in the first six months of the year, 3.8 per cent more than in the same period last year. Visitors from other parts of Germany continue to make up the majority of visitors to Berlin with a share of 58.1 per cent.

"The growth in the number of guests and overnight stays in Berlin in the past two decades has helped to catapult the city to the elite level of international destinations", says Prof. Dr. Ulrike Rockmann, President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office . "For years, the growth in guests from abroad has been well above the national average and that of almost all of the German states. In fact, the number of overnight stays in just the first half of 2013 has already met the 2005 figure for the entire year", adds Professor Rockmann.

1,200 Guests Every Hour

There are around 500,000 visitors in Berlin every day, with 29,187 of them staying overnight. That equals 1,200 overnight guests arriving every hour in the city. To illustrate: the guests could arrive in 580 coaches or 160 aircrafts each day. The number of visitors over 2.5 days could fill the Olympic Stadium, and only the guests of half a day would fill the entire O2 World.

For the first time ever Berlin welcomed more than a million guests in the month of June (+ 5.7%). Last year, only August, September and October crossed the million visitor mark. The number of overnight stays increased by seven per cent to 2.4 million. 130,331 beds in 789 establishments were available to visitors of the city in the month of June.

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visitBerlin

“We know Berlin”. This is the slogan that Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, operating under the trade name visitBerlin, has been using since 1993 to globally advertise for Berlin as a travel destination. visitBerlin’s Berlin Convention Office markets the German capital as a congress metropolis. As a tour operator, the company offers a wide range of travel packages and also issues the official tourist ticket, the Berlin WelcomeCard. visitBerlin operates five Berlin Tourist Infos. The Berlin Service Center (Tel. 030-25 00 25) provides information on the complete spectrum of tourist services in Berlin. Information on the German capital is available in 13 different languages at visitBerlin.com.