Thuringia's tourism industry records sales growth

Tourism is one of the turnover heavyweights of the Thuringian economy. The industry's gross sales rose by 3.1 percent to almost 4.3 billion euros last year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced at the Thuringian Tourism Day in Bad Blankenburg. According to a study commissioned by the ministry, Thuringians and their guests spent more than 101 million days on the various tourist offers last year.

«When many people think of tourism, they first think of vacation and leisure time. But above all it is an important economic factor for Thuringia," explained Economics Minister Colette Boos-John (CDU). Not only hotels and restaurants benefited from the spending by guests and visitors, but also retailers, service providers, trades and many other companies - especially in rural regions.

Day tourists bring in a lot of revenue

According to the ministry, in 2025 the hospitality industry accounted for around 2.07 billion euros of gross tourism turnover, 1.26 billion euros for retail and around 961 million euros for services. According to the calculations, tax revenue of around 400 million euros resulted from VAT and income tax. Day tourism is also important, with around 75 million day trips and a share of more than 50 percent of total sales.

The Free State's new tourism strategy, which has been available for a few days, was discussed in Bad Blankenburg. Thuringia promises visitors a “total tourist experience” in the future and wants to increase the number of overnight stays by around half a million within ten years.

In recent years, tourism in the Free State, which for many visitors is characterized by the forest, Wartburg and Weimar, has only developed cautiously. The number of guests increased from 3.7 to 3.9 million within ten years, and the number of overnight stays booked increased from 9.8 to 10.0 million.