Hanover Remains a Strong Tourist Destination (February 25, 2014)

In the state capital of Hanover, the number of overnight stays remains consistently high. According to the Lower Saxony State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology, there was even a slight increase of 0.3 percent between January and November compared to the same period last year. Due to a decline in overnight stays in December—presumably caused by the long weekends surrounding the holidays—of minus 8 percent compared to the same period last year, the total number of overnight stays for 2013 came to 2,081,824. This represents a marginal decline of -0.2 percent compared to 2012.

Hanover has thus once again surpassed the Expo record of 2.03 million guest overnight stays, which was first set in 2011.

The capital of Lower Saxony has seen an increase in the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors: with a total of 448,031 guest overnight stays between January and December, an increase of 2.2 percent can be noted here.

Also noteworthy is the high bed occupancy rate of 42.4 percent. This is the highest figure since the Expo—and also the highest bed occupancy rate among 20 cities in Lower Saxony (see statistics in the appendix)!

“Hanover continues to prove itself as a strong tourism destination in 2013, driven by major events, trade shows, and conventions. Overnight stays remain at a pleasingly consistent high level,” summarizes Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG).

The positive trend in tourism is also reflected in the number of overnight stays sold by HMTG—the so-called “experience packages”: With an increase of over 20 percent compared to 2012, more experience packages were sold in 2013 than ever before. A successful year for HMTG’s hotel room booking service, with a significant increase in booking volume, rounds out this encouraging report.

As spokesperson for the international marketing partnership “die_9 Städte in Niedersachsen,” Nolte is also pleased with the developments in the member cities (Braunschweig, Celle, Göttingen, Goslar, Hildesheim, Hannover, Hameln, Lüneburg, Wolfenbüttel). The number of overnight stays there remains at a similarly high level as in the past two years, declining by only 0.1 percent compared to the previous year. Overnight stays by international visitors even show an increase of 1.3 percent.

Additional press photos, press releases, and press materials are available at www.hannover.de/presse_hmtg.