Germany
Visitor characteristics
- Business visitors are four times as likely to be male than female
- More than half of holiday visitors are making a repeat visit to Britain
- Virtually all holiday and business visitors are German but 19% of visiting friends and relations (VFR) visitors are British nationals
- Business visitors tend to have a higher household income than leisure visitors
- 92% of departing Germans are either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ likely to recommend Britain for a holiday or short-break
Popular activities
Visited a Pub
Visited Parks/ Gardens
Went Shopping
Global context
| Measure | 2016 |
|---|---|
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 81.1 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 3 |
| Number of outbound overnight visits (m) | 100.5 |
| Most visited destination | Austria |
Key demographic and economic data
| Measure | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Population (m) | 82.6 |
| GDP per capita PPP (US$) | 43,799 |
| Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%) | 1.2 |
| Annual average GDP growth in 2016 (%) | 1.8 |
Inbound visits to Britain
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| Overview of UK visitor statistics in | Change from previous year | |
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Access to Britain from Germany
| Measure | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Weekly aircraft departures | 1,263 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 180,948 |
| Airports with direct routes in Germany | 23 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 22 |
- Most Germans travel to Britain by plane. The destination can also be accessed by direct coach services, by car through the Channel Tunnel, by ferrry or by a simple change of train in Brussels or Paris
- Monthly airline seat capacity from Germany to Britain increased to more than 780,000 in 2016
- Many airlines operate flights from Germany to Britain with Lufthansa and British Airways being the largest carriers
- German visitors flying home from Britain pay £13 in Air Passenger Duty
What Germans think about Britain
- Germans rate Britain highly for built heritage, contemporary culture and sports, but less so for scenic natural beauty and welcome, rated 18th and 17th out of fifty nations respectively on these two attributes in 2016
- Museums and music are the cultural products or services most strongly associated with Britain among Germans
- A trip to Britain would be expected to be ‘educational’ and ‘fascinating’ but Germans are more likely than others to think it would be ‘relaxing’
- Australia and to a lesser extent the USA are the destinations that Germans consider the ‘best place’ for delivering the things they most want from a holiday destination
- Areas of strength for Britain include being somewhere to see ‘famous sites’ and for ‘lots of history’, while very few consider Britain is the ‘best place' for ‘food and drink’
- Activities that appeal to potential visitors from Germany include a visit to Buckingham Palace and spotting wildlife in the Scottish Highlands
Caring for visitors
- Very few German visitors expect their British hosts to speak German, with the majority of younger Germans speaking English
- German visitors are likely to have planned their itinerary in some detail, but younger visitors may be more spontaneous, but all will welcome local recommendations for things to do and see
- Germans often try to find accommodation that has ‘character’
- German vegetarians are often impressed by the range of choices on offer in Britain
The leisure & travel trade
- The German travel market is very mature, there are a few big players dominating the market but also a fair number of small specialist operators with comprehensive Britain programmes
- Although in Germany retail agencies are still more important than in other European countries they are now also increasingly facing competition from internet travel portals
- Large tour operators research their main season programmes between April and June, with off-season/city break operators doing their research in March and April
Downloads
Germany market profile
Read about the preferences of Europeans towards tourism. Published March 2015
Find out which perceptions of Britain act as a barrier to exploring beyond London. Published July 2013
Read our report on German perceptions of the expense and value for money when taking a holiday in Britain. Published 2012
Find out where visitors from Germany reside in their own country. Published 2015
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Trade
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Date:
7 Mar 2018 to 11 Mar 2018
County/ City
Germany
Price £: TBC
Status: Register interest
Exchange rate
1 GBP = 1.0922 EUR
As of 21 August 2017
Retrieved from the Bank of England
