Hannover Marketing & Tourismus: 3,866,030 overnight stays in the Hanover Region

Hanover registered a record-breaking number of overnight stay as tourism in the region reached new heights in 2015. With visitors spending an aggregate of 2,232,282 nights in the state capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover managed to outperform the all-time highs set in 2011 (2.106 million stays) and 2000, the year that EXPO was held in the city (2.030 million), by clocking up an additional 126,124 overnight stays.

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Lower Saxony's state statistics bureau reported that 2015's figure was up by 150,010 on the previous year, which corresponds to growth of 7.2%. When taking all of the 21 municipalities which make up the Hanover Region into account, there were 170,027 more overnight stays, which equals 4.6% more than in 2014.

The long-term increase in visitors to the area is also impressive:

Hanover saw some 1.1 million overnight stays in 1999, but this figure had more than doubled by 2015.

Hans Christian Nolte, manager of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, is also extremely pleased with the growing number of visitors, saying, "In monetary terms, Hanover's additional 150,010 overnight stays are equivalent to over €27 million more in gross sales on the previous year. This boost not only benefits the hotel sector, but also retailers, restaurants and bars, and leisure and entertainment providers. All in all, it further raises the profile of tourism as a factor in the Hanover Region's economy."

(Source: dwif 2015, average outlay per guest staying overnight in Hanover: €181.70; for the Hanover Region: €141.10)

The higher number of visitors, above all in the area of leisure tourism, meant that hotels have, happily, been able to improve room usage steadily over time. 2015's average occupancy rate for sleeping facilities came to 45.2%, which puts it up 2.3% on the equivalent figure from 2014.

Figures and activities outside of Germany

Visitors from outside of Germany accounted for 499,893 overnight stays in Hanover, which represents growth of 9.7% on the previous year. Throughout the region as a whole, there was a 6.6% increase in the number of non-German visitors. In other words, over 25% of all visitors came from outside of Germany. The largest cohort in this group were from the UK (43,434 overnight stays), followed by Poland and the Netherlands.

There was also solid growth for visitors from the partner nations of 2015's fairs: CeBIT partner country China saw its figure rise by 31.1%, while the number of visitors from India (partner of Hannover Messe) was up by 66.4% on 2014.

A host of different overseas activities on the part of HMTG also tempted 8.6% more visitors from the USA to Hanover in 2015. This increase is ample proof of the international reach of the city and its trade fairs, a fact that will soon be underscored yet again by the upcoming appearance of US president Barack Obama at the opening of HANNOVER MESSE in April.

New record for the "Nine cities in Lower Saxony"

The cooperative association called 9 Städte in Niedersachsen, or "Nine cities in Lower Saxony", also has great news to report regarding overnight stays in 2015: When the figures for all of the members were added up, they came to over 5 million for the first time.

Hans Christian Nolte, spokesperson for the "Nine cities" association, believes that this achievement is down to the group's consistent advertising strategy and its choice of core topics: "By showcasing the participating towns' unique and diverse mix of attractions and by appealing to new target groups, all of the members were able to benefit from the final result."

Information about Hanover is available in your language at

www.visit-hannover.com/languages

The Hannover Pro app and all of its location-specific information is available here.

The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

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Contact information

Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH
Maike Scheunemann
Public relations
Phone: +49(0)511/123490-26
Fax: +49(0)511/12349017
presse@hannover-marketing.de