Structure of tourism in Cologne has changed, trending towards more leisure tourism from nearby markets and decrease in business travelers.
Promotable business trips such as trade fairs, business conferences and conventions are increasing once again, but the figures for traditional business trips will not return to the level that was reached before the crisis.
The State Statistical Office of North Rhine-Westphalia, IT.NRW, registered 3.2 million arrivals and 5.6 million overnight stays in Cologne hotels. This represents 85.3 percent of the overnight stays registered in 2019 — before the crisis. Cologne’s rebound, which was largely thanks to its successful recovery measures, set a benchmark by comparison with other German cities such as Berlin (78 per cent) and Frankfurt (79 percent).
The most important source market is still Germany, which accounts for 69 per cent of the total overnight stays. The Netherlands are in second place with 4.2 per cent, a figure that significantly exceeds the level reached in 2019. The British market follows at 3 per cent, showing that the British are more eager to travel than they had been expected to on account of Brexit. The USA occupies fourth place, at 2.9 percent.
