India is the fourth largest non-European market for Germany: GNTO
Indian visitors to Germany accounted for over 898,000 room nights in 2024, close to the all-time high of over 961,000 room nights that Germany witnessed in 2019 and the demand in India for travel to Germany is continuing to grow robustly.
This was announced by Romit Theophilus, Director, German National Tourist Office, Delhi, at a press conference organised in collaboration with the Embassy of Germany in India on Wednedsay.
Theophilus said that tourism from India grew on practically every single parametre, from the nights spent in Germany to the total spending by Indian visitors and he added that the demand for travel to Germany has continued to grow robustly in the current year, thanks to a record 309 flights from India to Germany in January 2025, an increase of 12 pc over the flight connectivity in January last year.
“Germany is the seventh most visited country in the world and it has been rising in those rankings consistently. The recovery rate for 2024 versus 2019, we see that we have reached about 95 pc of tourist arrivals. In 2019, we had over 90 million overnight overall. Till 2023, we had 80.9 million, and last year we had 85.3 million. So we are almost there,” Theophilus said.
“We have 52 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as over 25,000 castles and mansions that you can actually visit in Germany. We have over 9,000 folk festivals per year, more than 7,200 museums and exhibitions. And of course, 16 national parks where you can actually experience different activities while you visit over there,’’ said Theophilus.
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According to Theophilus, India is the fourth largest non-European market for Germany, after only the United States, China and the UAE.
Georg Enzweiler
Georg Enzweiler, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy to India, said that the demand for visas to Germany has risen significantly in the current year.
“In the first quarter of the current year as the largest European country issued 19 pc more visas to Indian travellers in the first three months of 2025 as compared to the number of visas issued in 2024. That is a substantial number and we hope that the trend will continue. We would like to have as many Indians visit Germany for whatever purpose as we could,’’ Enzweiler said.
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He added that one of the key factors driving higher visa demand was the rising number of Indian students in Germany as currently there are about 50,000 Indian students in German universities, which is the highest number of any foreign students in Germany.
In terms of top destinations within Germany for Indian visitors, Theophilus said that Bavaria is the most popular part of Germany, followed by Baden-Württemberg, Frankfurt and Berlin.
Theophilus said that the mix of travellers from India to Germany has also evolved and business travel which was close to 75 pc of total Indian arrivals in Germany some years ago is now less than 41 pc, while leisure travel accounts for 48 pc and 11 pc is for Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR).
On an average, Indians spend EUR 320 per night in Germany (GNTO)
Another highlight of the Indian market was that 43 pc of Indians have already been one, two, three times in Germany, indicating the importance of repeat travellers for Germany. Theophilus said that an important aspect of Indian visitors to Germany was that not only do they stay the longest but also spend much more than other international visitors.
“The length of stay is very important. In 2019 we were nine nights, in 2024 we are 9.6 nights. So you can see the small increase, but just imagine that we have people spending over a week when they go to Germany and staying there,’’ Theophilus said.
He said that Indian travellers spend over EUR 3,068 per trip and an average of EUR 320 per night and Indian visitors generated over EUR 1.1 billion in Germany in 2024.
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“One of the main reasons for that is Germany is one of the most affordable destinations in Europe as well. If you compare our hotel prices to neighbouring countries, Germany is probably at about one third of what France charges and about half of what Switzerland charges in terms of four-star hotels as well. We are an affordable destination as well. The air traffic has been rising and we’re quite excited the fact that we have more and more flights coming in. If you compare 2019 to 2025, we had 241 flights in 2019 and that’s already grown to 309 flights in, for example, a month. So it is about 28 pc growth,’’ says Theophilus.
In the current year, GNTO India is focussing on travellers attarcted by culture, honeymooners as well as nature lovers.
“We are focusing on Culturaland Germany 2025. Germany is Europe’s number one cultural travel destination for 10 years in a row. We have 52 world heritage sites, 68 art museums, 80 opera houses, 10,000 festivals and events, and 750 theatres as well,” added Theophilus.
Another key target segment for GNTO India this year is the honeymoon and wedding segment.
“What we noticed is that 45 pc of Indians are honeymooners, reflecting the fact that we have a good target group to target, especially when it comes to what Germany has to offer. For example, we have beautiful castles, picturesque towns, vibrant cities. And it makes it a very attractive destination. When we talk about honeymooners is that it is the biggest market that we haven’t really tapped at the moment,’’ added Theophilus.
“The third focus is nature where we have a lot to be discovered by Indian visitors. We have lush forests to Alpine peaks, which we just spoke about. It’s free world, nature, serene escapes. There is a lot you can do which is nature-oriented when we talk about Germany. For example, 12,000 lakes and thousands of rivers, 50,000 animal species and 20,000 plant species and over 300,000 km of hiking routes and 76,000 km of cycling routes all over Germany as well,’’ he added.
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