The town of Cochem is characterized by wine growing and tourism, even if their economic importance has been waning over the past few decades. Important tourism sites are the Reichsburg Cochem (Cochem Imperial castle), the Freizeitzentrum Cochem (leisure centre) in the outlying centre of Cond, the nearby Wild- und Freizeitpark Klotten ("Klotten Wilderness and Leisure Park") and the Ediger-Eller holiday and golf resort up in the Eifel heights. A majority of the inhabitants, though, can now be found employed in other branches of the economy. There are fewer than ten fulltime winegrowing businesses.
Cochem Railway Station is of importance to architectural history
The town lies on the Koblenz�Trier line, which between Cochem and Ediger-Eller runs through the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel, which from its completion in 1877 until 1887 was Germany's longest tunnel at 4.2 km (3 mi). Calling at the station are Regionalbahn, Regional-Express and InterCity trains, along with one ICE train each morning and evening affording a morning-evening link with Berlin. Moreover, there are a few regional buslines. The town belongs to the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel ("Rhine-Moselle Transport Association").
The town is a Bundeswehr location (TUK Cochem-Brauheck) and an administrative and educational centre. Cochem is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem and the Cochem-Zell district. Located in Cochem are an Amt court, an employment office, a branch office of the Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Koblenz-Mosel ("Koblenz-Moselle Water and Ship Transport Office"), a health unit, the district waterworks, a police station and the water safety police station, a hospital, two seniors' residences, a home for those with mental handicaps (at Ebernach Monastery), a German Red Cross and Wasserwacht rescue station and a well equipped fire brigade
