“We are especially pleased with the latest overnight stays record, as it was unexpected, given that 2017 was the weakest trade fair year for the last 12 years,” said Yvonne Coulin, Managing Director of the Nuremberg Convention and Tourist Office (CTZ). In 2017, several international trade fairs which draw strong attendance – such as GaLaBau, Chillventa and BrauBeviale – had their off year. “The record numbers once again show the importance of the so-called leisure months favored by individual travelers, such as July and December, which had a gain of 7.9 and 10.6 percent respectively,” emphasized Yvonne Coulin.
In December 2017, 300,000 overnight stays were reported for the first time. That is the strongest monthly growth in overnight stays since statistics have been recorded, despite the shortest Christkindlesmarkt in the last six years, with only 24 opening days. December thereby displaced July as the month with the highest growth. July also showed a new record of 318,705 overnight stays and an increase plus of 7.9 percent. These positive developments validate the various marketing activities and intensive market development of the CTZ, as well as the importance of the Tourism Fund which make this all possible.
In 2017, tourism within Germany grew by 3.0 percent, with domestic overnight stays increasing by 3.0 percent and foreign by 4.0 percent. With an increase of 0.9 percent in domestic overnight stays, Nuremberg lies below this trend. With a growth of 8.4 percent in overnight stays by foreign guests, Nuremberg well exceeds the Germany-wide trend.
Germany, with a total of 2,194,132 overnight stays, remains the most important source market, with a 66.0 percent share of the overnight stays in Nuremberg.
Tourism arrivals have also seen positive development, with a new record of 1,863,181 arrivals. Foreign arrivals increased by 11.1 percent, while domestic arrivals grew by 3.4 percent.
USA advances its lead position as most important foreign target market
Thirty-four percent of overnight stays were generated by foreign guests, an increase of 8.4 percent in comparison to last year. “This growth shows the increasing internationalization of overnight stays in Nuremberg in comparison to the rest of the German market. The continuing positive development of overnight stays for American guests is particularly pleasing,” said Yvonne Coulin. In the past, with the exception of 2016, the USA has provided a high level of overnight stays. In 2017, the American market exhibited an above-average growth with an increase of 27.9 percent, for a total of 135,736 overnight stays. Particularly notable was the fact that the mark of 100,000 American guests was already surpassed in October, two months earlier than last year.
The last year’s negative trend for guests from Russia (a minus of 9.7. percent) did not continue in 2017. Strong growth was registered instead: In September, for example, 81.9 percent; for the year as a whole, a gain of 22.7 percent of overnight stays from guests from Russia was recorded.
The direct flight connections from the Albrecht Dürer Airport to Italy, Spain and Great Britain support an upward trend in these markets. Italy grew by 19.3 percent; Spain by 12.1 percent. Great Britain also showed strong growth with an increase of 20.7 percent and achieved the highest gain in the month of August, with 54.8 percent more overnight stays than last year. China remains the most important Asian market for Nuremberg. It rose to sixth place in the ranking of the Top 10 countries, thanks to an increase of 13.4 percent for a total of 55,334 overnight stays.
Only two Top 10 markets showed a decrease in comparison to last year: The Netherlands with 4.8 percent and Switzerland with 5.7 percent.
South Korea shows an especially interesting development. For the first time, the number of overnight stays from guests from South Korea exceeded the total from the Japanese market, with 21,919 overnight stays and a growth of 19.1 percent. The strongest month was October, with a gain of 93.8 percent. The CTZ will follow this trend in its market development and considers South Korea a promising market in 2018.
Germany Travel Mart (GTM) in Nuremberg – A complete success
2017 was dominated by the GTM, the most important event of the German National Tourist Board, which was hosted by the CTZ and Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH from May 7 to 9, 2017 in Nuremberg.
“The GTM let us present Nuremberg as a diverse and interesting tourism destination to 340 tourism suppliers and 600 international participants from 43 countries,” said Yvonne Coulin, the Managing Director of the CTZ. In addition to workshops and six press tours focusing on various Nuremberg topics, the surrounding events allowed Nuremberg to show all its best facets. In addition to the official opening in the Opera House and Germanisches Nationalmuseum, the visiting professionals experienced the Blaue Nacht and a specially created Christkindlesmarkt in the inner courtyard of the Historic City Hall. Along with many new contacts in the tourism field, 225 articles appeared in 158 foreign media and an abundance of posts in social networks under the hashtag #gtm17.
The topic of Nuremberg’s culinary richness continues to be a focus of the marketing activities of the CTZ. Cooperation with the Nuremberg food blogger Uwe Spitzmüller from “High Foodality” created his personal 48-hour city guide for Nuremberg. The #tastenuremberg campaign, in which personalities from the local gastro scene present themselves in interviews and offer personal recipes, will also continue on the website of the CTZ.
In 2018, Nuremberg‘s hosts are the focus
The CTZ will focus its marketing activities this year on Nuremberg’s hosts. The reason for this is the trend among travelers to not simply see themselves as tourists, but want to experience a place like a local and for a longer time. With the new campaign “Gast.Freunde.Nürnberg”, the owners of various Nuremberg hotels will introduce themselves in personal videos. Their testimonials will not only describe their hotel, but also its individual surroundings and include special tips and favorite haunts. All posts of the #SeiMeinGast campaign will appear on a social wall at the CTZ website.
Download monthly statistics December 2017