Schollen Hotelberatung has published its 2026 Top 100 Report for the German accommodation market. Based on overnight stay figures for 2025, the study analyses the 100 city and 100 holiday destinations with the highest demand, as well as their development over the ten-year period from 2015 to 2025. Together, these 200 destinations account for around 268 million overnight stays, representing approximately 54 per cent of the total German market. The evaluation highlights clear divergences between demand growth, the expansion of bed supply and actual occupancy.
Across the six A-cities of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne and Düsseldorf, cumulative overnight stay volumes fell by around one per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year. With the exception of the pandemic year 2020, this marks the first decline in demand since 2015. By contrast, B- and C-cities recorded increases of around one and two per cent respectively over the same period. Berlin remains the largest urban market with 29.4 million overnight stays, followed by Munich with 19.7 million and Hamburg with 16.5 million. Over the ten-year period, Berlin is the only one of the 31 analysed A- and B-cities to record a negative trend: overnight stays there fell by an average of 0.3 per cent per year between 2015 and 2025.
Peak occupancy rates outside the metropolises
In terms of bed occupancy, smaller locations hold the top spots in the city rankings. The highest figures in 2025 were recorded in Bamberg with 58.1 per cent, Brühl in the Rhineland with 57.6 per cent and Kempten in the Allgäu with 55.7 per cent. At the lower end of the scale were Wolfsburg with 28.4 per cent, Ratingen with 32.2 per cent and Magdeburg with 32.6 per cent. The mismatch between capacity expansion and occupancy is illustrated by the example of Eschborn near Frankfurt: while overnight stays there grew by an annual average of 10.3 per cent and bed capacity by 10.4 per cent between 2015 and 2025, bed occupancy in 2025 stood at just 38.6 per cent.
Among holiday destinations, Sylt leads the demand ranking with around 3.35 million overnight stays, followed by Heringsdorf with 3.07 million and Fehmarn with 2.54 million. However, top positions for occupancy are held by climatic health resorts and spa destinations: Bad Sassendorf reached 80.9 per cent, Schwangau 78.3 per cent and Bad Elster 70.7 per cent. The most dynamic holiday destination over the ten-year period proved to be Kappeln on the Schlei, with an annual demand increase of 22.1 per cent and capacity growth of 23.4 per cent; bed occupancy in 2025 nonetheless stood at only 27.0 per cent.
Supply overhang on the coasts and stability in the mountains
In coastal locations, overnight stays have risen by around 37 per cent since 2015, while bed supply expanded at an even faster pace with growth of around 46 per cent. Compared with 2024, overnight stays there rose by approximately six per cent in 2025. In contrast, mountain locations were the only category in which bed occupancy improved over the ten-year period, as annual demand growth of 1.0 per cent outpaced the capacity increase of 0.3 per cent.
The analysis is based on a classification system comprising a total of 500 high-volume destinations, covering around 70 per cent of the German accommodation market. Differentiation is based on defined key figures:
- —Urban destinations, categorised into A-, B- and C-locations
- —Holiday destinations, subdivided into coastal, mountain and inland regions
- —Structural characteristics such as population, average length of stay and tourism intensity
The report emphasises that isolated growth rates in overnight stay numbers do not provide evidence of a need for additional capacity. For viable location and investment decisions by developers, operators and financiers, demand trends, supply growth and actual occupancy must always be assessed in a comprehensive, combined overview.
