Tourism in Baden-Württemberg is booming again. The number of hotel guests and overnight stays is increasing by double digits. Brackenheim in the Heilbronn district now wants to attract more tourists with a project based on the French model.
Baden-Württemberg is becoming increasingly popular with tourists. According to the State Statistical Office, almost 23 million people stayed in the state’s accommodation establishments last year. That is 13.8 percent more than in 2022. About a quarter of the guests did not have a German passport. The number of overnight stays rose by 10.1 percent to 57.5 million in the same period.
The growth is particularly significant in the Stuttgart region and in the northern part of the country. In and around the state capital, hoteliers recorded an increase of 20.4 percent in arrivals and 30.4 percent in overnight stays. The number of foreign overnight guests increased most in percentage terms in the northern part of the country, roughly between Heilbronn and Tauberbischofsheim (22.5 percent).
Andreas Braun wants to continue this positive trend, “but we are not just looking at quantitative growth,” says the managing director of Tourism Marketing Baden-Württemberg when asked by our newspaper. “Quality, added value, guest satisfaction and acceptance of tourism among the locals are also important to us,” says Braun. The topic of wine tourism, which has been bundled under the Weinsüden brand for ten years, plays an “outstanding role.”
It is precisely in this respect that “a real highlight” is now being created in Brackenheim (Heilbronn district), the likes of which even the country’s top tourism official has never seen in his area before: the German Wine World. In the heart of the birthplace of Lemberger lover and first Federal President Theodor Heuss, all 13 German wine-growing regions are to be presented on an area of 1000 square meters.
What’s special about it: The concept is being developed in cooperation with what is currently probably the most important wine museum in the world, the Cité du vin in Bordeaux. “We expect 100,000 visitors per year in Brackenheim,” says project manager Elouan Pêcheur. That would be a good three times as many as in the wine museum in the Stuttgart district of Uhlbach.
Baden-Württemberg’s tourism chief also believes in the success of the wine world. “The project is a great opportunity and an asset for the wine south,” says Andreas Braun. Although wine is “first and foremost a regional product, the connection with France and Bordeaux in particular is a real unique selling point,” says Braun.
According to a recently published study, half of all Germans surveyed already agree with the statement that Baden-Württemberg stands for “experienceable wine culture”. With this lighthouse, this value could perhaps be increased even further. The opening is scheduled to take place in April 2025.
By Holger Gayer
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The original of this article “Swabian town hopes to attract 100,000 tourists with gigantic museum” comes from STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG.
