Tourism and leisure
Sector description
Tourism is one of Hamburg’s most important industries. It employs around 90,000 people with a wide range of qualifications and backgrounds. Hamburg is one of Germany’s top city destinations, with approximately 14.5 million overnight stays recorded in 2018 – this is topped only by Berlin and Munich. Visitors coming from abroad currently account for 25 per cent of people coming to Hamburg, and this figure continues to rise, resulting in steady growth in the number of overnight stays. Hamburg recorded 3.6 million overnight stays by foreign visitors in 2018. The city’s key markets are currently Denmark, Switzerland and the UK.
The direct tourism industry comprises companies that generate the vast majority of their turnover with tourism, such as hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, tour guides and leisure facilities. The indirect tourism industry is made up of companies that benefit greatly from tourism in terms of their value added, but which are not directly related to tourism, such as food service providers, taxi companies and retailers.
Economic data
| Key figures of the tourism | Data |
|---|---|
| Number of companies (2017) | 7.180 |
| - Hotels, restaurants and boardinghouses | 446 |
| - Summer residences and other accomodations | 90 |
| - Camping grounds | 10 |
| - Private residences and other accomodations | 225 |
| - Restaurants (food) | 3.059 |
| - Restaurants (beverage) | 2.196 |
| - Travel agencies and tour operators | 826 |
| - Tourist guides, city guide | 224 |
| - Museum, zoos, fun- and themeparks, adventure parks |
78 |
| - Exhibitor trades | 26 |
| More Indicators | |
| Employees (2018) | around 90.000 |
| Total number of overnight stays (2018) | 14,5 Mio. (+5,1%) |
| Total number of overnight stays - foreign guests (2018) | 3,6, Mio. (+ 4,4 %) |
| Ranking of popular German destinations (2018) | Position 3 |
| TOP-Primary markets (2018) | 1. Denmark 2. Switzerland 3. United Kingdom |
Sources: Handelskammer Hamburg, Statistikamt Nord, Landesstatistikämter, dwif, Hamburg Tourismus GmbH
Overnight stays per year
| Year | Overnight stays total* | Overnight stays domestic guests* | Overnight stays foreign guests* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 7.402.423 | 5.866.099 | 1.536.324 |
| 2008 | 7.727.621 | 6.115.524 | 1.612.097 |
| 2009 | 8.190.145 | 6.535.007 | 1.655.138 |
| 2010 | 8.946.635 | 7.094.326 | 1.852.309 |
| 2011 | 9.530.300 | 7.488.197 | 2.042.103 |
| 2012 | 10.634.012 | 8.243.203 | 2.390.809 |
| 2013 | 11.603.135 | 8.940.981 | 2.662.154 |
| 2014 | 12.008.154 | 9.072.194 | 2.935.960 |
| 2015 | 12.693.295 | 9.585.016 | 3.108.279 |
| 2016 | 13.331.001 | 10.051.005 | 3.279.996 |
| 2017 | 13.822.337 | 10.375.463 | 3.446.874 |
| 2018 | 14.529.549 | 10.930.354 | 3.599.195 |
* to 12/2011 hotels with 9 and more beds, since 01/2012 hotels with 10 and more beds.
Quelle: Statistikamt Nord
Current climate in the hospitality industry
The calculated business climate indicator for the Hamburg economy and the respective sectors results from the assessments of the current situation and future development. The resulting values are between 0 and 200 index points.