Hannover Breaks all Records: More Overnight Visitors Than Ever Before

HANNOVER, Germany, February 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

In 2011, more than 2.1 million visitors stayed overnight in the capital city of Lower Saxony, an increase of 9.3 per cent compared with 2010. For the first time, the figure was even higher than in Expo year 2000. The number of overnight stays throughout the entire Hannover Region also reached a record level.

Hannover breaks the Expo record: tourism in Hannover performed better than ever before in 2011. Between January and December, 2.106 million visitors spent a night in the city, breaking the previous record for Hannover from Expo year 2000 (2.030 million overnight stays) for the first time. In 2011, Lower Saxony's Department of Statistics and Communications Technology recorded a year-on-year increase of 179,669 overnight stays, equivalent to an increase of 9.3 per cent. Neither Hamburg, Munich nor Berlin could boast such high growth rates. The long-term trend is also highly impressive: compared with 1999, when roughly 1.1 million visitors spent the night in Hannover, the figure had almost doubled twelve years later.

"This record figure proves that Hannover has become an increasingly attractive destination for guests in recent years. There are so many first-class events in the city: Maschsee Lake Festival, Fireworks Competition, Made in Germany Zwei and the TUI Marathon, to name just a few. Word has got around that Hannover is well worth a visit and we are determined to continue this positive trend," announced Mayor Stephan Weil.

"These figures are a huge success," says Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG). The record figures are attributable to a highly successful year for trade fairs and exhibitions as well as the positive trend in the private tourist sector.

For further information visit http://www.visit-hannover.com

Photos can be downloaded from http://www.hannover.de/photodownload

Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, Vahrenwalder Strasse 7, D-30165 Hannover

http://www.hannover.de, presse@hannover-marketing.de, Tel.: +49-511-12-34-90-13, Fax: +49-511-12-34-90-10