page_title: Tourism in Germany
section_title: Regions
hierarchical_section_title: Tourism in Germany / Countryside / Regions
caption_attribution_description: Beach grass, dunes, the sea.
context_page_description: Germany is the eighth-most-visited country in the world, with a total of 407.26 million overnights during 2012. This number includes 68.83 million nights by foreign visitors, the majority of foreign tourists in 2009 coming from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Additionally, more than 30% of Germans spend their holiday in their own country.
  According to Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Reports, Germany is ranked 3 out of 136 countries in the 2017 report, and is rated as one of the safest travel destinations worldwide.
  In 2012, over 30.4 million international tourists arrived in Germany, bringing over US$38 billion in international tourism receipts to the country. Domestic and international travel and tourism combined directly to contribute over EUR43.2 billion to the German GDP. Including indirect and induced impacts, the industry contributes 4.5% of German GDP and supports 2 million jobs. The ITB Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair.
  According to surveys, the top three reasons for tourists to come to Germany, are the German culture, outdoor activities and countryside, and the German cities.
context_section_description: The most visited tourist regions in Germany are the East Frisian and North Frisian Islands, the Baltic Sea coasts of Holstein, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern, the Rhine Valley, the Bavarian and Black Forest, and the Bavarian Alps.
  The table below shows the five most visited rural districts in 2008:
  Other popular regions include 
  in the North: Usedom, Holstein Switzerland, the Lüneburg Heath, Harz and Mecklenburg Lake District
  in the West: Teutoburg Forest, Sauerland, Eifel and the Moselle Valley
  in the East: Saxon Switzerland, Thüringer Wald, Erzgebirge and the Elbe Valley
  in the South: Taunus, Spessart, Rhön, Odenwald and Allgäu.
caption: Dune on the North Frisian island of Sylt
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