Tourism association takes stock for 2023

Consistently The tourism association's view of the official guest statistics for 2023 is consistently positive. In the period from January to December, a total of 2.52 million guests came to "Germany's inspiring outdoor region" for a break, 8.6% more than in the previous year. At 7.73 million, the number of overnight stays is also significantly higher than in 2022 and, in a NRW-wide comparison, in second place among the destinations, just behind Cologne with the Rhine-Erft district and ahead of the Ruhrgebiet in third place. The underlying figures relate to the entire tourist region, including the municipalities of Diemelsee and Willingen, which are located in Hessen.

"I am particularly pleased that the figures for our region are at this high level after the difficult years of the corona pandemic and that the Sauerland can score points as a year-round vacation destination with its broad portfolio of excursion destinations and sights," says Jannik Müller, Deputy Managing Director of Sauerland Tourism. "An important factor for this is the high quality and constant investment in the tourist infrastructure - this is absolutely not a matter of course."

The catchment area is no longer limited to the classic core markets of NRW such as the Rhineland or Ruhrgebiet. The region is also increasingly scoring points in the neighboring federal states of Lower Saxony, Hessen and Rhineland-Palatinate, and the focus of foreign marketing has long since moved beyond the neighboring countries of the Netherlands (823,195 overnight stays) and Belgium (103,444 overnight stays). The potential market of Denmark has also been intensively exploited for several years in order to attract new vacation guests to visit the Sauerland. And with success, as the overall statistics show an increase of a whopping 33.9 percent to 21,882 overnight stays compared to the previous year.

And the tourism association is expecting high demand again this year. "Several public holidays are conveniently located so that employees have an extended weekend off with just one day of vacation and can use it for activities. This is worth its weight in gold for us as a short break and recreation region," emphasizes Rouven Soyka, press spokesman for Sauerland Tourism. Of course, the region with its focus on outdoor activities such as hiking and cycling is always dependent on the weather. "In good weather conditions with sunshine and warm temperatures, we get a lot of spontaneous bookings in addition to long-term and medium-term bookings. The close proximity to the conurbations on the Rhine and Ruhr makes it ideal for this," continues Soyka.

Contact for the press:
Rouven Soyka, Sauerland-Tourismus e. V.
Johannes-Hummel-Weg 1, 57392 Schmallenberg
Tel.: 02974-969830, e-mail: presse@sauerland.com