Hannover: Record number of overnight stays in the first half of the year (August 23, 2013)

Hanover is attracting more and more visitors: Between January and June 2013, the number of overnight stays reached a record high for this period. According to the State Office for Statistics and Information Technology, the number of overnight stays rose by another 3.3 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 1,042,257. The number of guest arrivals rose by 3.4 percent to 605,982. This means that the first-half figures for 2013 are not only significantly higher than those of the previous year, but also higher than those from 2011. In the year when the Expo record was broken for the first time, 1,019,648 guest overnight stays were recorded in the first half of the year.

The increase in overnight stays and arrivals by international guests was particularly strong in the first half of 2013: the number of overnight stays rose by 11.8 percentage points to 232,781. However, with 809,476 overnight stays by domestic guests (up 1.1%), the majority of overnight guests still come from within the country.

The “average occupancy rate of available accommodations” has also increased. It rose by 1.8 percentage points to 42.7 percent.

“We are pleased to report a strong first half of the year for trade fairs, with successful events, significant growth in conferences and meetings, and an increase in bookings in the leisure travel sector,” says Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG).

These positive trends are also reflected in the booking figures from HMTG’s Accommodation Service: Between January and June, the team booked 30 percent more hotel rooms than during the same period last year. Another indicator of Hannover’s strength as a tourist destination is the strong demand for experience packages and city tours. So far this year, HMTG has sold nearly 6,000 experience packages (overnight stays), about 25 percent more than in the same period last year.

The second half of the year also has plenty to offer, with major trade fairs such as EMO and Agritechnica, as well as fantastic events like the IdeenExpo and the International Fireworks Competition in the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen. Visitors can find inspiration for planning their trip to Hannover in the latest issue of “Tipps und Termine,” which will be distributed this Friday as a supplement to daily newspapers within a radius of about 250 kilometers, with a circulation of 1.8 million copies. The supplement can also be downloaded in advance as a PDF exclusively at www.visit-hannover.com.

Photos for editorial use are available at www.hannover.de/fotodownload. For more information, visit www.visit-hannover.com, www.hannover-tourismus.de, and www.hannover.de/urlaubsregion.