The study provides information on the state capital of Wiesbaden, the Rheingau-Taunus district, the Rheingau and the WIESBADEN RHEINGAU destination, viewed spatially. IHK President Jörg Brömer categorized the results: "Tourism is and remains a key economic factor in our region: in 2024 alone, day trips and overnight stays in the IHK district generated over one billion euros in gross revenue. This benefited the hospitality industry in particular, but also the retail sector with 309 million euros and services with 233 million euros. After some challenging years, this impressively demonstrates the continued importance of this sector for our regional economy."

The study for Wiesbaden compares the tourism figures for 2019 and 2024 and shows a positive trend in the number of overnight stays in the state capital. "The analysis shows that the number of overnight stays in accommodation establishments rose by 7.2% to more than 1.4 million between 2019 and 2024. This is significant because 2019 was the record year to date. We can see that Wiesbaden is becoming even more attractive as a travel destination and that the coronavirus pandemic has been overcome," says Wiesbaden's Mayor Christiane Hinninger, who is responsible for tourism in the state capital.

An even more significant increase was recorded in the number of overnight stays by family and friends, which rose from 1.4 million in 2019 to 1.8 million in 2024 (up 24.3 percent). This positive development contributes to the increase in economic income in addition to stays motivated by city tourism and thus underlines Wiesbaden's popularity as a host city.

The amount of (gross) tourism revenue has also increased, from more than 685 million euros (2019) to 700.5 million euros in 2024 (plus 2.2 percent). Although gross sales in the hospitality industry, services and VFR (Visiting friends and relatives) overnight stays have increased, gross sales from retail and day tourism have fallen by six percent in the same period. Correlating with this, a decline in day trips from 12.2 million in 2019 to 10.2 million in 2024 was recorded. The state capital is thus following the trend across Germany: a decline in day trip sales is observed throughout Germany, which is attributed to inflation, cost and price explosion as well as the global geopolitical situation with increasing security, crisis and conflict potential, among other things. There has also been a decline in day tourism throughout Hesse (-19.6 percent), according to the recently published dwif study for the state of Hesse. If the figures for Wiesbaden are placed in the context of the overall development in Hesse, it can be seen that Wiesbaden is still above the Hessian average with a decline of 16.4%.

Every guest traveling on business (for example to the Kurhaus or the RheinMain Con-gressCenter) takes advantage of potential shopping opportunities, the local gastronomy and cultural offerings such as the Wiesbaden State Theater, the Reinhard Ernst Museum, the Wiesbaden Museum and the Schlachthof. Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH makes an important contribution by organizing indoor and outdoor events, such as the Rheingau Wine Week, which attracts numerous guests and locals during these days, as well as through targeted national and international marketing of the city of Wiesbaden. Offers such as free bus tickets for traveling to and from events also increase the attractiveness of the city center. Leisure activities for families, such as the mobile water playground on Luisenplatz, also revitalize the city.

In these challenging times, networking with stakeholders such as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Wies-baden Wunderbar, the city management and the cultural office is particularly important in order to take active action and move the city forward. In addition to the founding of the Desti-nation WIESBADEN RHEINGAU for the holistic tourism marketing of the region in 2021, the Wies-baden partner network was founded in Wiesbaden last year to strengthen the "Wiesbaden brand" in the city travel segment. To this end, the network relies on targeted tourism marketing measures and recently launched a national DB campaign.

In the Rheingau, the study shows a differentiated picture. The Rheingau recorded a 15.2% decline in the number of overnight stays in its accommodation establishments (over 10 beds) in the 2019/2024 period under review. Nevertheless, tourism-generated revenue in the Rheingau rose by 6.7% to 225.2 million euros. The 3.4% increase in revenue from day trips is particularly noteworthy, despite a slight decline in day trips from 4.2 million in 2019 to 4 million in 2024. Gross revenue from day trips amounted to 115.9 million euros in 2024. In addition, there were around 2,293 ship landings in Rüdesheim am Rhein in 2024 with a total of around 300,000 passengers, which contributed significantly to the revival of tourism. The number of VFR overnight stays in the Rheingau was surveyed for the first time, amounting to 630,000 in 2024 and generating gross revenue of 18 million euros with an average daily spend of 28.60 euros.

The declining number of overnight stays is attributed to several factors, including business closures - according to official statistics, 132 businesses with more than ten beds were registered in 2019 and only 118 in 2024. Extending the length of stay and increasing occupancy rates in the low season are therefore key objectives for increasing the number of overnight stays in the long term. This underlines the importance of targeted quality promotion and product development in the tourism industry. Quality assurance and the targeted development of high-quality tourism offers are crucial to keeping the Rheingau and the destination as a whole attractive in the long term. "The close cooperation between the city and the district strengthens the WIESBADEN RHEINGAU brand and promotes regional value creation," adds District Administrator Sandro Zehner, emphasizing the importance of synergies for sustainable tourism development.

The German Institute of Tourism Economics (dwif) has been conducting regional studies on tourism as an economic factor in Wiesbaden and the Rheingau-Taunus region every five years since 2014. The study records the number of days spent by overnight and day visitors as well as their expenditure in order to calculate gross tourism revenue and is an important indicator for determining the status quo and the development of the tourism industry in the region. It is calculated on the basis of exclusive market research conducted throughout Germany (including the dwif Day Trip Monitor, Quality Monitor Germany Tourism, company comparisons for the hospitality industry) as well as numerous regional data and surveys (including on the private accommodation and camping market, visitor numbers to facilities and events).

The study "Tourism as an economic factor" can be downloaded here: www.ihk.de/wiesbaden/tourismusstudie

IHK Wiesbaden in cooperation with Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH, Rheingau-Taunus Kultur und Tourismus GmbH and DEHOGA Hessen e.V.

Press contact:

Hannah Janz
Head of Communications, Press Officer | Consulting
IHK Wiesbaden | Wilhelmstraße 24 - 26 | 65183 Wiesbaden
Phone: +49 611 1500-162 | Mobile: +49 151 15193188 | E-Mail: h.janzwiesbaden.ihkde