"The illuminated shooting star market, Germany's largest mobile ice skating rink, the children's shooting star market and many other attractions transform Wiesbaden into an atmospheric Christmas city," says Mayor Christiane Hinninger. In addition to the proven crowd-pullers, the offer has been expanded in certain areas, for example with additional Christmas lighting in the Schiffchen. "Wiesbaden is now the Christmas city par excellence," explains Hinninger. "Our events also have a great appeal far beyond the region."

The increased number of visitors stimulates the city centre and promotes local retail, hotels and restaurants, emphasizes City Manager Jens Ackermann. The number of group trips to Wiesbaden has risen in particular. In total, the city counted many tens of thousands of visitors.

Christmas plays an important role in Wiesbaden's tourism strategy. "We advertised the Christmas offers accordingly throughout the year. At national and international workshops, trade fairs and in online and offline campaigns by WICM GmbH, the shooting star market and Christmassy Wiesbaden took center stage," says Martin Michel, Managing Director of Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH. The Sternschnuppen Markt was also very present on social media, with around 110 posts published by influencers and bloggers on Instagram alone.

The free public transport on Advent Saturdays and, with the support of ESWE Verkehr, reduced parking tickets in selected Wiesbaden parking lots were also actively used and positively perceived. This reduced the number of people looking for a parking space.

The "THermine-Sternschnuppenshuttle" contributed to the overall experience, transporting passengers free of charge between the events at the weekend. "There was extremely high demand from guests for the free service this year; thanks in part to the extensive advertising, I have noticed an increase of a good 50 percent compared to the previous year. I've encountered a lot of surprise and gratitude about the free offer," reports THermine operator Andreas Wagner.

The fourth children's star market was well attended. In the mornings, kindergarten groups took part in craft lessons, while many families took advantage of the offer in the afternoons and at weekends. The "Sternschnuppenexpress" children's train, the children's carousel and the extended catering offer contributed to the success. The highlight is and remains the gnome forest, this year with double the space and four gnome houses, thanks to the support of two sponsors, Hausmeister Service Rolf Stenzel e.K. and ESWE Verkehr, who have taken on the sponsorship of the two new gnome houses.