Overview

Travel and tourism are critical drivers of economic growth and employment in the United States, accounting for nearly 3% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). With one domestic job stemming from every 69 international visits to the U.S., and 9.9 million American jobs paying more than $322 billion in employee compensation, approximately 1 in every 20 jobs in the nation is contingent upon continued travel and tourism.

Germans are well-known for visiting second and third tier destinations within the United States, not just the major gateways and attractions, thus playing a critical role in the wellbeing of American tourism. All data points to the fact that Germany will remain a significant source market and partner.

Most German visitors to the United States book their travel through German tour operators and/or travel agencies, thus availing themselves of German travel package laws safeguarding their vacation investment. Whereas these packages are typically purchased early, however, the length of time between booking and travel has shortened considerably since the Pandemic. The reversal of this trend may transpire in the course of a “return to normalcy.”

The United States welcomed 1,481,000 visitors from Germany in 2022. Already in the first three months of 2023, over 318,000 travelers from Germany have arrived in the U.S, with this figure ranking among the highest for foreign travel to the U.S. Summer months are the most popular for German travel, so it is likely that this number will rise before the end of the year (ADIS/I-94 Visitor Arrivals Monitor).

For summer 2023, there are more than 400 direct daily flights (or 70 weekly flights) from Germany to the U.S. (with American Airlines, Condor, Delta Airlines, Euro wings Discover, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines).

German Travel Sector: Germany’s 9,000+ travel agencies have experienced significant losses due to uncertainty, but as restrictions have been loosened, many have seen an uptick in their business.

Opportunities

The Visit USA Committee Germany e.V. plans to continue its successful series of in-person and online training opportunities for members to present to German travel industry partners and consumers.  Here is a link to their extensive business plan for 2023/2024:

https://vusa.travel/business/

Contact office@vusa.travel for details on how to sign up.

ITB Berlin, the Internationale Tourismus Boerse, one of the world’s largest travel trade shows, is scheduled for March 5-7, 2024 and will have a USA Welcome Pavilion for U.S. tourism suppliers and partners.. See https://www.itb.com/en/.

Policy Objectives and Challenges

The recovery of business travel remains ‘sticky,’ with gradual resumption of normal services; as companies have pivoted towards virtual communications, staff availability remains challenging and resulting upwards pressure on employee hours remains a concern to be addressed. High inflation, the energy crisis, and ongoing war in Ukraine are of particular worry to German consumers, and rising prices along with the connected drop in demand could present a challenge for U.S. companies. However, as of right now, demand from German travelers remains high.  

Resources

Trade Events

• Oohh! The LeisureWorlds – holiday and leisure, Hamburg, February 7-11, 2024
• CMT – tourism and leisure, Stuttgart, January 13-21, 2024
• f.re.e – leisure and travel, Munich, February 14-18, 2024
• ITB – travel, Berlin, March 5-7, 2024
• IMEX – meetings and events industry, Frankfurt, May 14-16, 2024

Entry and visa regulations information

U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Germany

Official ESTA Application Website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (dhs.gov)

Visa Navigators

Other

Official site of the Visit USA Committee Germany 

Brand USA’s consumer website in German 

German landing page for Recreation.Gov  (http://www.natuerlichusa.de/)

Germany - Travel & Tourism (trade.gov)

Visa Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin (google.com)

Visa Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin (google.com)

U.S. Consulate in Munich (google.com)