Berlin officially has around 3.5 million residents. But every day, tens of thousands of visitors join them. According to the Statistical Office of Berlin-Brandenburg, the city's accommodation providers recorded a total of 30.3 million overnight stays in 2015, more than 80,000 per day on average. That crossed the 30 million mark for the first time.
Tripled in 16 years
The growth has been remarkable: in 1999, Berlin counted just 9.6 million overnight stays. Within 16 years, that number more than tripled. Compared to 2014 alone, overnight stays rose by 5.4 percent. The number of guests also hit a new high at 12.4 million, up 4.2 percent.
International visitors are driving growth
What stands out is where the growth comes from. Domestic guest numbers grew by 2.1 percent, while international visitors increased by 7.6 percent. The gap is even wider for overnight stays: 9.2 percent growth from international tourists versus 2.5 percent from German visitors. Foreign guests now account for 45.1 percent of all overnight stays.
30.3 million overnight stays push demand into central apartments
The tripling of overnight stays in 16 years has consequences for Berlin's housing market. High hotel occupancy rates push demand for alternative accommodation, which benefits apartments in Berlin in central, tourist-popular locations. Boroughs like Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg are the obvious hotspots, but districts like Neukoelln are catching up fast.
With 45.1 percent of overnight stays now coming from international visitors, Berlin's pull as a travel destination feeds straight into demand for residential property. Anyone tracking the market development in the capital should factor in the tourism sector.
