Baden-Württemberg Tourism: Visitor Numbers Rise, Overnight Stays Dip in 2025

Baden-Württemberg welcomed 24.1 million guests in the past year, marking a record high, according to preliminary data released by the State Statistical Office in Fellbach. This represents a 1.5 percent increase. However, the number of overnight stays experienced a slight dip, falling by 0.3 percent to 58.7 million, a figure previously reached in 2024.

Tourism State Secretary Patrick Rapp of the CDU stated that the region had managed to maintain the high level of the previous year’s record – even without a major sporting event. The record year of 2024 was partially attributable to the UEFA European Football Championship.

Rapp continued, stating that the positive guest balance for 2025 confirms Baden-Württemberg’s attractiveness as a travel destination.

80 Percent of Guests in Baden-Württemberg Come From Germany

The majority of tourists in Baden-Württemberg continue to be domestic travelers. According to statisticians, domestic overnight stays increased slightly by 0.4 percent in 2025. Guests from within Germany account for 80 percent of all overnight stays, with travelers from neighboring states particularly well-represented, as reported by Tourismus Marketing GmbH Baden-Württemberg (TMBW).

Short trips and weekend stays are central to this tourism pattern. Popular destinations include the Black Forest, northern Baden-Württemberg, Lake Constance, as well as the cities of Stuttgart, Freiburg, and Heidelberg.

The largest number of foreign guests with overnight stays in the past year came from Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, the United States, and Austria. The Netherlands and Austria showed positive development in 2025, while Switzerland and France experienced a slight decrease.

A 9.1 percent decline in visitors from the United States, Baden-Württemberg’s most important overseas market, may be attributed to economic uncertainties, high travel costs, and geopolitical tensions, according to TMBW.

Germany’s tourism industry as a whole posted the highest number of overnight stays ever recorded in 2025, with a total of 497.5 million overnight stays, an increase of 0.3% on the record figures seen in the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This increase was largely driven by stays on camp grounds, which rose by 4.2%, while hotels saw a decline of 0.4%.

December saw 32 million overnight stays, up 3.6% year-on-year, contributing to a strong finish to the year. August recorded the highest number of overnight stays with 59.4 million, during peak holiday season.

A total of 413.7 million stays were booked by domestic tourists, up 0.7% from the previous year. The number of guests from abroad dropped by 1.8% to 83.8 million overnight stays over the period, following a spike in 2024 when Germany hosted the men’s European Football Championship. Foreign tourists accounted for 16.8% of overnight stays in 2025, down from 17.2% the year before.