Berlin leading city destination
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city’s tourism performance continues to exceed expectations, according to a new report from EuroMonitor International. Sitting at the crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe, and boasting a rich and colourful history and cultural heritage, the German capital is one of the Europe’s most visited cities and it is fast rising up the global rankings. However, it faces a number of constraints to future growth due to the delay in opening of its new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport – now not expected until late 2017.
The report states: “Thanks to rapid growth in the last decade, Berlin continues to strengthen its position as the leading city destination in Germany. In 2014, it recorded a total of 28.7 million domestic and foreign overnight stays.”
A key driver of Berlin’s growing popularity as a tourism destination is its thriving conference and congress sector. In 2014, more than 131,000 events attracted 10.9 million participants, generating seven million overnights and €2.2 billion in revenues. A breakdown of visitors to Berlin's cultural sites (museums, galleries, memorial sites, theatres, etc) shows that 85 per cent are tourists (45 per cent foreigners), who stay up to twice as long as the average visitor and spend far more per capita.
The new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI), initially due to open in 2010, will now not be operational until late 2017, due to unspecified ‘technical problems’. The long delay in the opening of the new airport, which has more than doubled in cost since early budget estimates, has severely constrained tourism growth, especially inbound, states the report.
The steady growth in overnight visitors has not been enough to match the increase in accommodation capacity, as Berlin’s real estate is attractively priced and offers a good return on investment. The result is a glut of rooms with low average occupancies and room rates, except during peak congress periods.