Esslinger Winterzauber: Despite rain and inflation, a year of success!

Esslinger Winterzauber: Despite rain and inflation, a year of success!

In 2023, tourism in the city of Esslingen has developed impressively, with the number of overnight stays and day tourism being at a high. Despite many rainy days, the Esslingen Christmas market and other major events were often well attended, which indicates the growing interest of visitors. Michael Metzler, the managing director of Esslingen Stadtmarketing and Tourismus GmbH (EST), is optimistic about the developments of the year.

"You are never very satisfied," Metzler mentioned, but emphasizes that the results are in a positive framework. In particular, the income generated by city tours exceeded expectations with sales of 574,000 euros - more than 100,000 euros more than planned. This positive development is particularly noteworthy when you consider that the external framework conditions still remain complex.

tourism recovers quickly

The city administration emphasizes that tourism in Esslingen has again reached the level before the Covid 19 pandemic in many areas. In 2023, Esslingen registered almost 240,000 overnight stays, which the second highest figures have corresponded to official statistics since the beginning. The increase in day tourism can also be seen through the growing number of bookings of city tours and a larger rush in the city information.

Another important step was to redesign the tourism website, which now records around 600,000 access per year-a significant increase compared to the previous 400,000. However, there were also challenges: this year has booked a deficit of 734,000 euros, which must be compensated for by its shareholders, including the city of Esslingen.

challenges from external factors

The development of urban events turned out to be a little more complicated in the course of the year. Although corona -related restrictions have disappeared, new uncertainties such as the war in Europe, the energy crisis and inflation have given the event industry with great challenges. Inflation in particular has influenced the budget of events enormously this year. "Events are now 40 to 45 percent more expensive than before Corona," reports Metzler and emphasizes that this is important for restaurateurs, market feeders and the event company EME.

In addition, the Esslingen Christmas market suffered from unfavorable weather conditions: in more than 20 out of a total of 30 days it was rainy. Surprisingly, despite these difficulties, the number of visitors remained stable and satisfactory. The EME achieved sales of 850,000 euros in 2023, which exceeded the planned 680,000 euros. Customer reviews and bookings underline the constant interest in the events, despite the economic difficulties and the drastically increased costs.

for Esslingen Stadtmarketing and Tourismus GmbH remains a beam of hope: compliance with one's own plans and the permanent striving for new goals and approaches announcing promising prospects for the next few years. You can also find information on future events and tourist offers on the newly designed EST website, which offers guests even more insights and options.

In order to learn more about the background of these developments, you can href = "https://www.esslinger-zeitung.de/inhalt.evest-stadtmarketing-in-esslingers-tourism-im-upwind-event industry. Target = "_ blank" rel = "Nofollow noopener noreferer"> read here .