01 — The two ledgers
Inbound and outbound, side by side. Each figure on its own perimeter and vintage — do not net them across years.
| Ledger | Measure | Value | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inbound | Foreign overnight stays | 85.3M +5.4% | Destatis / DZT, 2024 — 94.8% of the 2019 level |
| Trips from Europe | 57.4M | IPK, 2024; 2nd in Europe after Spain (79.2M) | |
| International visitor spending | €45.1bn | WTTC, 2024 — broader perimeter than the BoP travel credit, labelled | |
| 2025 spending forecast | €57bn | WTTC forecast, same perimeter — a forecast, not an outturn | |
| Outbound | International overnight trips | 105.0M −8.3% | Destatis, 2025 (press release 17 Aug 2026) |
| Travel debit | €118.5bn +2.7% | Bundesbank revised country table, 13 Oct 2026 | |
| Spend per trip | ≈€1,129* | Our arithmetic on the two lines above | |
| Long-haul revenue | −14% | DRV summer-2026 review; operator perimeter |
The domestic third ledger. Germany's biggest travel market is Germany: the FUR annual travel analysis reports a record number of German travellers for 2025, and private air travel is back at 103% of pre-crisis levels on Munich's passenger survey. The inbound lag is not about Germans staying home — it is about price: Frankfurt sits ~10% below 2019 while Europe excluding Germany is at 108% of pre-crisis capacity (BDL, cited by Munich Airport).
02 — The inbound mirror, 2025
Who is flying into Germany — the corridor reads from the two hubs, all nationalities (Fraport / Munich Airport, 2025):
Frankfurt's growth is continental and price-sensitive: Czechia +21.8% and Norway +10.4% led the European board, while intercontinental traffic grew just 0.6% — Thailand (+35.4%) and the resumed Israel (+40.4%) and Lebanon (+34.6%) links excepted. Munich tells the opposite story: long-haul is 5.5% above 2019, the US is the largest long-haul market (~3.5M passengers, +17% vs 2019), and 27% of all traffic is business — the highest share among major German airports. None of this describes the German traveller — for that ledger, read the outbound dossier.
03 — Gateways
2025 throughput, all nationalities (Fraport, 16 Jan 2026; Munich Airport Annual Traffic Report):
| Airport | 2025 pax | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt (FRA) | 63.2M +2.6% | Europe's hub-connectivity leader — 301 destinations in 96 countries; still ~10% below 2019 |
| Munich (MUC) | 43.4M +4.4% | No.10 in Europe; long-haul 8.9M, already +5.5% above 2019; transfer share 42% |
04 — TIO coverage of Germany
Everything the office publishes on the country, one click away:
Sources. Destatis — foreign overnight stays 2024, via the DZT · IPK — European trips 2024 · WTTC — international visitor spending 2024 and the 2025 forecast (broader perimeter, labelled in the table) · Destatis — international overnight trips 2025, press release 17 Aug 2026 · Bundesbank — revised country travel-expenditure table, 13 Oct 2026 · DRV — summer 2026 market review, 15 Oct 2026 · Fraport — 2025 traffic figures, 16 Jan 2026 · Munich Airport — Annual Traffic Report 2025 (incl. FUR and BDL citations). Cells marked * are our derivations, labelled in place; all other figures are published data on the perimeters stated.