In 2017, there was a total of 128 hotels with 16,793 beds available to visitors to Leipzig (2016: 14,864). The average length of stay of visitors increased to 1.9 days (2016: 1.8 days). On top of this, there were 2,008,466 commercial overnight stays in the Leipzig region, which led to a volume of around 5.2 million overnight stays for the Leipzig region as an overall destination. This represents a 26.5 percent share of all overnight stays in Saxony.
Volker Bremer, Managing Director of Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing (LTM) GmbH, is delighted with the new record number of visitors: "Over 3 million overnight stays and almost double-digit growth in arrivals and overnight stays emphatically shows that Leipzig has joined the top tier of German cities. The national and international profile of our city has continued to grow, which is also having an impact on increased media coverage."
It is also pleasing that the Leipzig region is becoming more and more appealing to tourists. The figure of over 2 million overnight stays in 2017 represents an increase of 2.7 percent compared with the previous year. The average length of stay of visitors was 2.9 days.
Numerous visitor attractions
The Leipzig trade fairs have been a significant part of this success. "The Chaos Communication Congress in particular, with around 15,000 participants, ensured excellent annual results in December," said Bremer. Furthermore, other major events and excellent diverse cultural offerings, as well as the "500 Years of the Reformation" anniversary and the Bundesliga matches of RB Leipzig have ensured further overnight stays and improved the profile of Leipzig.
The region around Leipzig also has much to offer. "The trend for mini-breaks is increasingly moving towards nature and active tourism," said Volker Bremer. "Visitors who stay over in Leipzig are specifically looking for attractions in the region. The appeal of the tourist lighthouses, Belantis theme park, Markkleeberg canoe park and the castles is also increasing."
Visitors from all over the world
The number of German visitors in 2017 has increased 7.5 percent (arrivals) and 8.4 percent (overnight stays) compared with the previous year. The percentage of foreign tourists also increased significantly. Arrivals and overnight stays in 2017 increased to 252,040 (+16.2 percent) and 506,468 (+14.7 percent) for these visitors. This represents a 16 percent share of all overnight stays (2016: 15.2 percent). The highest growth rates were achieved among visitors from Poland (40.6 percent) and the USA (37.8 percent), with these visitors having a particular interest in the "500 Years of the Reformation" event. The anniversary also saw 21.5 percent more visitors from the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden stay overnight in Leipzig (37,000 overnight stays).
Switzerland follows the USA in 2nd place with 38,866 overnight stays, followed by Great Britain with 37,655 overnight stays. Sweden is on the verge of moving into the top 10 list of international visitors with 12,770 overnight stays (+16.2 percent).