All signals indicate growth in tourism to Germany – the number of incoming overnights is forecast to grow by a record 20 million over the coming decade. 2010 notched up a record 60 million overnights from guests from abroad (in addition to 320 million overnights by German guests). Petra Hedorfer, Chairperson of the Board of the German National Tourist Office (GNTO / DZT), predicts that the 80 million overnights mark should be reached by the year 2020. Prospects for 2011 are also looking good, with incoming growth of between 2 per cent and 4 per cent being predicted. Domestic growth of 2 per cent is also expected. A total of 390 million overnights are forecast.

Long-term German incoming growth targets see Europe as the primary area of growth, with an additional 14 million overnights predicted – mainly from Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Italy. Four million additional overnights are expected by 2020 from Asian source markets and an additional two million from the Americas. China and India are viewed as the top incoming growth markets for Germany in the future. Overnights from China are predicted to double by 2020 and those from India to treble.