Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for Berlin 2019

Berlin is one of the most popular city travel destinations in Europe. However, significant information about the economic impact of the tourism industry as a whole has not been available to the public and economic policymakers until now, as this information cannot be derived directly from official economic statistics.

On behalf of VisitBerlin and the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, DIW Econ calculates the economic significance of the tourism industry in Berlin for the first time in the study “Tourism as an Economic Factor in Berlin” using the tourism satellite account.

To determine the overall economic significance of tourism in Berlin, firstly, the total consumption expenditure of overnight and day tourists with private and business travel motives in Berlin was taken into account, and the effects on economic output and employment triggered by this expenditure were calculated. In addition, the TSA also takes into account the tourism consumption of Berlin citizens travelling to other federal states or abroad.

The study results show that the tourism industry is a relevant factor for Berlin’s economic performance. In 2019, tourism consumer demand of €16.9 billion led to direct gross value-added effects of €6.8 billion, which corresponds to a share of 4.8 per cent of Berlin’s total economic output. In addition to the indirect effects, tourism even contributed 6.6 per cent to the total economic performance in Berlin, with gross value-added effects amounting to 9.4 billion euros. In addition, the calculations show that a total of around 228,000 jobs in 2019 were directly and indirectly related to tourism in Berlin. This corresponds to a share of 11 percent of total employment and illustrates the great importance of the industry as a job engine.

Download of study here:

Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Enterprises