Overnight stays remain at a high level
With a total of 561,487 visitor arrivals and 1,321,203 overnight stays, Wiesbaden remains a strong tourism destination in 2025. Compared to the previous year, 2024, which recorded 577,507 guest arrivals and 1,344,735 overnight stays, the currently available figures do represent a slight decline of 2.8 percent in arrivals and 1.7 percent in overnight stays, but they remain at a very high level.
“Wiesbaden continues to perform very well overall in a challenging market environment in 2025. More than 1.32 million overnight stays show that our city is in demand both nationally and internationally,” explains Mayor and Head of Economic Affairs Christiane Hinninger. “Wiesbaden had already matched the record year of 2019—before the pandemic—in 2023 and even surpassed it with a 4.5 percent increase in overnight stays. The current figures make it clear that, following the very strong years of 2023 and 2024, we are seeing consolidation at a high level.”
The trend in Wiesbaden can be interpreted as follows: While overnight stays nationwide rose slightly by 0.3 percent in 2025, Hesse recorded a decline of 1.2 percent during the same period. At the state level, the year is also viewed as a period of stabilization following the exceptionally strong year of 2024, which was marked in particular by the European Football Championship.
In Wiesbaden, domestic overnight stays fell to 1,049,263 in 2025, a decrease of 1.9 percent compared to 2024. The number of foreign guests fell to 90,567, a decrease of 5.1 percent, while overnight stays by foreign visitors declined only slightly by 1.0 percent to 271,940. This suggests that international guests continue to specifically choose Wiesbaden as a destination and, on average, stay in the city for a relatively consistent length of time.
The most important international source market for Wiesbaden in 2025 remains the United States, with 62,830 overnight stays, although a decline of 8.0 percent was recorded here. In contrast, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland showed a very encouraging trend, with 36,371 overnight stays and a significant increase of 55.0 percent. Growth was also recorded from Italy (+10.3 percent), Australia (+35.6 percent), Norway (+61.2 percent), India (+76.2 percent), and Portugal (+84.9 percent), among others. Conversely, declines were recorded in the Netherlands (-18.7 percent) and the Arab Gulf States (-17.0 percent) in terms of overnight stays.
“The figures show that international business in particular was on the move in 2025 and that markets developed very differently,” said Martin Michel, Managing Director of Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH. “Our goal for 2026 is to continue positioning Wiesbaden strategically in the source markets relevant to us. Wiesbaden benefits from its positioning as a city of culture, health, enjoyment, and conferences. The task at hand is to consistently develop existing potential and sustainably sharpen the city’s tourism profile.”
While some months during the year saw a decline in arrival and overnight stay figures—particularly June and July—this trend is also observable across the state of Hesse and can be attributed, among other things, to the strong performance of the same months in the previous year during the 2024 European Championship. In August 2025, by contrast, there was a significant increase of 7.1 percent in arrivals and 4.6 percent in overnight stays. In particular, foreign overnight stays saw a notable rise of 9.7 percent in August. Traditionally, the Rheingau Wine Week takes place in August, a key component of WICM GmbH’s national and international marketing efforts.
Influence of trade fairs and congresses
Large conferences, trade shows, and conventions held at venues operated by WICM GmbH are a major contributor to business travel in Wiesbaden. Among the most well-attended events at the RheinMain CongressCenter in 2025 were the German Radiology Congress with approximately 11,000 participants, the Founder Summit with about 10,000 guests, and the Congress of the German Society of Internal Medicine with around 9,000 participants. The Connichi trade fair was visited by approximately 27,000 guests over three days, and the RMCC was also heavily attended by the 2025 German Rheumatology Congress (4,500 participants), the bpt Congress / Federal Association of Practicing Veterinarians (4,200 attendees), and the German Spine Congress (2,000 attendees), the RMCC was very well attended.
Large public events at the RMCC, such as the Ehrlich Brothers with around 8,000 attendees, Dieter Nuhr with 4,900, and Bülent Ceylan with approximately 4,000 guests, also contributed to tourism revenue. At the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, large-scale concerts and events were the main highlights. Particularly noteworthy were the open-air concert by Revolverheld as part of the Rheingau Music Festival with around 3,400 attendees, Nico Santos and Gianna Nannini with approximately 2,700 guests each, and Gregory Porter with about 2,600 visitors. In addition, there were established event formats such as InterWhisky, with around 2,000 attendees per day, and the Ball des Weines, with approximately 1,700 guests.
Hessian figures 2025
Hesse’s tourism figures for 2025 show that, with a total of 34.3 million overnight stays, the state remains below the pre-COVID-19 level of 2019 (35.6 million overnight stays; a decrease of 3.7 percent). The long-term comparison is particularly noteworthy: Wiesbaden stood out positively and, with 1,321,203 overnight stays in 2025, remained above pre-COVID levels. Despite a slight decline compared to 2024, Wiesbaden’s overnight stays in 2025 are still 3.3 percent above the previous record level set in 2019.
Sales and marketing activities
The 2025 tourism development initiative was supported by intensive and significantly expanded sales and marketing efforts by Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH. Through appearances at national and international trade fairs, roadshows, and workshops—including the CMT in Stuttgart, ITB Berlin, the Germany Travel Mart, events in the U.S., Austria, and Northern Europe, as well as MICE-related events—Wiesbaden was strategically positioned as a cultural, convention, wellness, and city destination in relevant markets. Additional reach was achieved through media partnerships and campaigns both domestically and abroad, including the cross-media rail campaign implemented jointly with Frankfurt. In 2026, WICM will continue to consistently build on this market presence—with further sales activities in Germany and abroad, new partnerships, and a targeted promotion of Wiesbaden in the areas of culture, health, leisure, and conferences.
The annual statistics on visitors and overnight stays are collected by the Hessian State Statistical Office and compiled by the City Office for Statistics and Urban Research.