Tourism Year 2022

With 2,031,876 overnight stays, the state capital is 13.12 percent behind the record year of 2019. The Hannover region, with 3,599,505 overnight stays, is 20.97 percent behind 2019. Excluding overnight stays in the state capital, the remaining 20 municipalities are thus 18 percent behind 2019. The decline is primarily attributable to the months of January through April 2022. During this period, strict restrictions were in place for events, trade shows, and general gatherings. 

In 2019, the year before the pandemic, the Hanover region recorded 4,254,598 overnight stays between January and December. With 2,338,758 overnight stays, the capital of Lower Saxony also surpassed the previous year’s record figures. Under normal circumstances, a further increase would have been expected. 

After two very difficult years due to the pandemic—2020 and 2021—the tourism trend is once again on the rise in 2022.
Hans Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, commented on the overnight stay figures: “This confirms the effectiveness of HMTG’s efforts to promote Hannover as a tourism destination and a conference venue. Target-group-specific marketing campaigns both domestically and abroad, as well as sold-out and very well-attended events—such as the Maschseefest—have contributed significantly to the strong overnight stay figures this summer. The vacation region also benefited from numerous day-trippers visiting Steinhuder Meer, the Calenberger Land, and Marienburg Castle.”

Activities Abroad

In 2022, the city of Hanover saw an overall 20 percent decline in overnight stays by foreign visitors compared to 2019. Sharp declines were recorded in particular from overseas markets. The trend in neighboring European countries is quite different. In fact, some of these countries even saw significant increases compared to 2019. From Denmark, for example, the city of Hanover recorded 17% more overnight stays compared to 2019, and from the Netherlands, an increase of 7%. This positive trend confirms the success of HMTG’s international marketing activities over the past three years. Campaigns in neighboring countries are planned for 2023, including ones tied to the International Fireworks Competition. Nevertheless, there are factors that cloud this optimistic outlook. “The sometimes substantial price increases in many sectors, the cross-industry shortage of skilled workers, and the ongoing war in Ukraine will pose a very significant challenge this year for the hotel industry as well as for the entire convention and trade show destination,” Nolte concluded.