Such growth is rare: tourism in the Ebersberg district increased by a full 206 percent in the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period last year. This has now been determined by the State Statistical Office. And these are just the guests who stayed overnight – day tourists are not yet included. However, the beautiful statistics have a small limitation: Corona restrictions still applied at the beginning of 2021, and the numbers were at a particularly low level at the time.
This is also emphasized by Augustinus Meusel, who is responsible for business and tourism promotion in the district office. Nevertheless, one sees a positive development this year: the tourism business is normalizing again. This is also confirmed by Brigitte Binder, Chairwoman of the Grafing Tourism Association, which organizes holiday apartment and room rentals. “You can tell that more people are coming again.” Binder rents out a holiday apartment himself and this year it is fully booked again. Above all, the regular guests are back, who had not been able to come in previous years.
Augustinus Meusel, business and tourism promoter of the district, is optimistic.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
Brigitte Binder, Chairwoman of the Grafing Tourism Association, also has a good laugh.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
In May, the month in which, according to statistics, almost three times as many tourists came to the district as in 2021, there were 35,079 overnight stays. In June – more recent data are not yet available – 37,183 overnight stays were counted. The number of guests is a little less than half of the overnight stays, according to statistics the average holidaymaker stays 2.4 nights in the Ebersberg district. From January to May, a total of 49,225 overnight guests and 120,027 overnight stays were counted. Most of them – namely 97,619 – are booked by guests from Germany, who also make up the majority of overnight guests at 39,528.
As in the years before the pandemic, this year there is a continuous increase towards the warm season: in January there were 15,723 overnight stays, in February already 19,229 and in March already 23,526. However, the values are still there despite the recovery of the situation a good deal below those before the pandemic: in January 2019, the statisticians still counted 33,996 overnight stays, in February it was 33,210 and in March 34,704.
Everything is fully booked for August and September
But at least the good development seems to continue for the coming months. Binder can report that all the private landlords she has spoken to recently have fully booked apartments for this month and for September. And that, although all landlords only let vaccinated guests stay. It is still a bit more restrained for October, when in previous years there were always many visitors to the Bauma trade fair – this year they were apparently still waiting to see whether the large construction machines would really be presented in Munich again as they used to be. But bookings are made anyway, Binder says she has already accepted reservations for December.
If the Bauma in Munich takes place as planned this year, the room landlords in the Ebersberg district will also be happy.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
In the case of day trippers, however, the value from before the pandemic seems to have been almost reached again, Meusel estimates. There is a projection for this, which a market research company prepared on behalf of the district. According to this, there were a total of 3.5 million so-called day trips in the district in 2019, which is almost 10,000 per day. However, the survey does not distinguish whether the day trippers come from within or outside the district. The authors also explicitly point out that these are not exact figures – because they do not exist. Because it is not registered who simply visits a beer garden in the district or cycles through the Ebersberg Forest.
Cycling in the forest is becoming more and more popular
Incidentally, the latter in particular has recently become more and more popular, says Meusel: “The forest is a highlight.” This is due to the ever-improving offers for cyclists in recent years, such as better paths, but also more information about where in the district you can cycle which tours. Cycling from one railway line to the other with a stopover for refreshments, for example at the Forsthaus Hubertus, is becoming increasingly popular. Of course, the weather this year is also ideal for cycling under the trees. Bike trips are also becoming increasingly popular with overnight guests, says Binder, for example on the Isar-Inn or Sempt-Mangfall cycle paths, both of which run through Grafing. In general, the good location between the state capital on the one hand and many excursion destinations on the other hand is one of the district’s great strengths when it comes to overnight guests.
Cycling under the trees is particularly pleasant in the hot summer.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
From an economic point of view, tourism in the district is also becoming increasingly important. According to the survey by the market researchers, overnight guests generated income of 69.1 million euros in 2019, and day trippers 66.9 million. Of this total of 136 million euros, 70.4 were for the hospitality industry, 36.7 for retail and 28.9 million for services of all kinds a fifth of this goes to the public purse. Between 2014 and 2019, tourism revenue for the district also increased by a good 23 percent.