The number of overnight stays increased significantly more in Pforzheim in 2022 than in Baden-Württemberg as a whole.
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Contrary to the state-wide trend, Pforzheim is one of the “top 5 winning regions in Baden-Württemberg” when it comes to tourism, as the city writes in a statement. Compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, the number of overnight stays increased from 229,149 to 237,664 – an increase of around 3.2 percent. In addition, the length of stay in 2022 increased by 5.1 percent compared to 2019.
Isabell Prior, Tourism Manager of Pforzheim Economics and City Marketing (WSP), is pleased with the positive development and said: “The strategic restructuring and extensive advertising measures of the last three years are having an effect.” Three extensive campaigns were started last year and also abroad the city was advertised more intensively
There is also a difference between the total figures for Baden-Württemberg and the figures for Pforzheim for foreign guests. The arrivals of foreigners for Baden-Württemberg as a whole were 19 percent below the value of 2019. It was different in Pforzheim: 23,308 foreign guests and thus 16.8 percent more visited Pforzheim in 2022. The gold city was particularly popular with visitors from the Netherlands, the Switzerland, Belgium and France.
The downside is the decline in German guests. Here, the WSP’s tourism marketing recorded a minus of 5.1 percent, which is better than the national average of minus 6 percent.
Significant growth in group business
Group business in Pforzheim is also slowly recovering. There was an increase of 24.8 percent in public tours compared to 2021. 85 private groups with a total of 2,484 participants were advised by WSP group expert Tanja Dahl-Zorn and spent their time in the gold city. “Some of the groups came from Berlin, Regensburg, Dortmund or Heidelberg,” reports Dahl-Zorn.
According to tourism boss Prior, the road to success should be further advanced: “In 2023 we will continue to professionalize the group business and continue to digitize our offer. We are also preparing for Ornamenta 2024 and the international guests expected with it. The topic of ‘travel for everyone’ will also be an issue for us in 2023.”
