Once again, more than 5 million overnight stays in Cologne; number of guests rises for the fourth time in a row. Although the number of arrivals has increased, the shorter amount of time that people remain in the city has caused the number of overnight stays to remain unchanged
COLOGNE — Tourism remained at a very high level in Cologne in 2013. Altogether, 2.96 million hotel guests came to Cologne last year for a total of 5.08 million overnight stays. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 1.7 per cent in terms of guest arrivals, but a very slight decrease of 0.1 per cent in terms of overnight stays. Particularly noteworthy is the great increase in the number of foreign guests, who accounted for 6.7 per cent more arrivals and 2.9 per cent more overnight stays.
Even though the number of overnight stays is currently stagnating at a high level, it is becoming clear that Cologne has recovered very well from the recent recession. The number of international arrivals has risen by 42 per cent since 2009, and the number of overnight stays by foreign guests has increased by 33.2 per cent. “Cologne has become much more attractive internationally, as demonstrated by the development of its tourism sector over the past four years,” says Elisabeth Thelen, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Cologne Tourist Board. “Cologne has also maintained its ranking of 24th among Europe’s 100 most popular city travel destinations and is a very attractive leisure and business destination.”
“Our strategic focus on the international markets is paying off. We recorded over 480,000 overnight stays last October, making it the best month in the history of Cologne tourism. This was primarily due to the strong ANUGA trade fair,” says Josef Sommer, Managing Director of Cologne Tourist Board. “The high bed occupancy rate despite increased room prices show that people consider Cologne a high-quality destination.”
