Schollen Hotelberatung has published its Top 100 Report 2026 for the German accommodation market. The study is based on overnight stay figures for the year 2025 and analyses the 100 city and holiday destinations with the highest demand in a ten-year comparison since 2015. Together, these 200 locations account for around 268 million overnight stays, representing a share of approximately 54 per cent of the overall German accommodation market. The survey focuses on structural shifts between demand growth, capacity expansion and actual bed occupancy.
The trend in Germany's six A-cities of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne and Düsseldorf is notable: these recorded an aggregate year-on-year decline in demand of around one per cent in 2025. Apart from the exceptional year of 2020, this marks the first decline in demand for this group since 2015. In contrast, B- and C-cities recorded increases of around one and two per cent respectively. With 29.4 million overnight stays, Berlin maintains its position as the largest German city market, ahead of Munich with 19.7 million and Hamburg with 16.5 million. Over the ten-year period, however, Berlin was the only one of the 31 surveyed A- and B-cities to record an average annual decline of 0.3 per cent.
Bed occupancy: Smaller markets outperform major cities
In terms of bed occupancy among the top 100 cities, smaller destinations took the lead in 2025. Bamberg leads the ranking with 58.1 per cent, followed by Brühl in the Rhineland with 57.6 per cent and Kempten in the Allgäu with 55.7 per cent. At the lower end are Wolfsburg with 28.4 per cent, Ratingen with 32.2 per cent and Magdeburg with 32.6 per cent. Eschborn in Hesse illustrates the tension between capacity expansion and occupancy: despite average annual growth of 10.3 per cent in overnight stays and 10.4 per cent in bed supply, bed occupancy stood at just 38.6 per cent in 2025.
Growth on the coasts, stability in the mountains
Among holiday destinations, Sylt leads the overall ranking with around 3.35 million overnight stays, followed by Heringsdorf with 3.07 million and Fehmarn with 2.54 million. By contrast, the highest occupancy rates were recorded by spa and health resorts: Bad Sassendorf achieved 80.9 per cent, Schwangau 78.3 per cent and Bad Elster 70.7 per cent. Kappeln an der Schlei proved to be the most dynamic location over the past ten years, with an annual demand increase of 22.1 per cent and bed growth of 23.4 per cent per year, although occupancy remained at 27.0 per cent in 2025.
- —Coastal destinations: 37 per cent increase in overnight stays since 2015 alongside a 46 per cent expansion in capacity.
- —Mountain destinations: The only category with improved ten-year occupancy, driven by moderate bed growth of 0.3 per cent compared with a 1.0 per cent increase in demand.
- —A-cities: First aggregate decline in demand in ten years outside the pandemic period.
The analysis highlights that isolated increases in overnight stay figures do not provide a reliable basis for expanding hotel capacity. A balanced relationship between local demand, bed supply and achievable occupancy remains decisive for investment and location decisions.
