The car remains the most popular mode of transportation for vacations

In 2025, travelers from Germany took a total of 274 million personal and business trips involving at least one overnight stay, either domestically or abroad. This represented an overall decline of 1.1 percent in the number of multi-day trips compared with 2024. The number of domestic trips rose by 3.9 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, reaching 169 million, and was thus 5.0 percent higher than in the pre-COVID year of 2019. The number of international trips, however, declined: According to the Federal Statistical Office (DESTATIS), the 105 million trips in 2025 represented a decline of 8.3 percent compared to 2024 and an increase of 5.4 percent compared to 2019.

The most popular destinations for international travel in 2025 were Italy (12.4 percent of all international trips), Austria (11.1 percent), Spain (10.9 percent), France (8.3 percent), and the Netherlands (7.7 percent). These five countries have remained—in occasionally varying order—the top international destinations for travelers from Germany for the past ten years.

Business travel was the main factor contributing to the increase in the number of domestic trips compared to the previous year. The number of business trips rose by 10.5 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, reaching 41 million. This brought the number of business trips nearly back to pre-COVID levels, with 0.2 percent fewer trips than in 2019. As for personal travel, while there was a 2.9 percent decline in 2025 compared to 2024—totaling approximately 233 million trips—there was a 6.2 percent increase compared to the pre-COVID year of 2019.

A look at modes of transportation reveals that the car remained the most frequently used mode of transportation for trips lasting several days in 2025 as well. Specifically, the car was used for 60.2 percent of trips involving at least one overnight stay, whether domestically or abroad. 19.2 percent of trips were taken by train, and 15.2 percent by plane. In 2025, tour buses accounted for 2.7 percent of the modes of transportation used. (aum)