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Start of holiday in NRW: Hotels are struggling with many empty beds!
Tourism in North Rhine-Westphalia is experiencing a mixed mood at the start of the 2025 holidays despite records in the number of guests and overnight stays.
Start of holiday in NRW: Hotels are struggling with many empty beds!
The holiday season is starting in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), but the mood in the tourism industry is less positive than expected. Despite record-breaking numbers of guests and overnight stays last year, current surveys show that many large hotels still have free beds at the start of the holiday. According to one Source of support 29% of the companies surveyed are dissatisfied with capacity utilization, while 9% are even very dissatisfied. Business hotels, which traditionally experience lower demand during the holidays, are particularly affected.
The survey, in which 270 companies took part, was carried out between June 20th and July 6th. Only around a third of the companies expressed satisfaction with the demand for the summer holidays. Almost another third expressed a neutral opinion. In contrast to large hotels, over 75% of campsite operators have a positive view of current demand, and providers of holiday apartments and houses are also more satisfied than average.
Records in the tourism sector
The growth in international guests is particularly interesting. In 2024, arrivals from abroad increased by 11.1 percent to around 5.6 million, and overnight stays by foreign guests grew by 7.0 percent to 11.3 million. In December 2024 there was also an increase in guest arrivals of 3.8 percent and overnight stays of 7.7 percent.
Pessimistic outlook and optimism
Patrick Rothkopf, President of Dehoga NRW, suggests reducing bureaucratic hurdles and making working hours more flexible to support the industry. In addition, a reduction in VAT on food in the catering industry is being discussed from 2026, which could provide additional stimulus for the industry.
The coming summer vacation period will be an opportunity for 2.5 million students in North Rhine-Westphalia to start their vacation. The first official holiday day is on Monday. Given the mixed feelings in the industry, it remains to be seen how demand will develop and whether large hotels will be able to fill their vacant beds in the future.