Barbara Geier: Meet the world champions of travel

TEXT & PHOTOS: BARBARA GEIER

Summertime, holiday time, best of times for the Germans who are known as Reiseweltmeister, or world champions of travel. This year looks to be another one in which the nation is living up to its reputation, based on data gathered and released by Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen (Foundation for Future Studies) in its 41st German Tourism Analysis earlier this year.

While there might be a certain general doom and gloom – which some say is another discipline that Germans excel in – there’s nothing dampening people’s travel spirit, according to the Foundation, which has surveyed 2024 travel behaviour as well as travel intentions for this year. Forget global crises and talk about economic uncertainties, nothing is going to stop Germans from going on holiday. At the start of 2025, two thirds of the population had already been planning to go on at least one trip this year, which corresponds to an increase of 20 per cent compared to 20 years ago. Germans are as determined as ever to not let anything get in the way of their holiday and prioritise travel, so the Foundation’s interpretation of its survey of 3,000 German citizens aged 18 and over.

Germans also spend more on their holiday, with the average (main) holiday costing EUR 1,544 per person in 2024, more than ever before. In 2014, that figure stood at EUR 1,071. For anyone spending their break at home, i.e. in Germany, holidays were on average EUR 500 cheaper than trips to other European countries. Which brings me to the Germans’ most favourite holiday destinations, which is, yes, Germany. 36 per cent of holidays taken in 2024 were of the staycation nature, with Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Baden-Wurttemberg as the top three regions. And based on the 41st German Tourism Analysis, this shouldn’t change because when asked about their travel intentions, 29 per cent indicated that Germany would be the destination for their main holiday in 2025. In case you’re curious of which countries are most successful in luring Germans away from their home shores, it’s Spain (8,1 per cent), Italy (5,9 per cent) and Turkey (4,5 per cent). Altogether, some 39 per cent of those surveyed planned a trip to a European country while 17 per cent had a long-haul journey in sight.

So, should you still deliberate holiday destinations for this year, well, you’re most likely not German then because, according to the survey, the nation likes to plan ahead (surprise, surprise) with 36 per cent saying that they book as early as possible. Having established that, and in case you’re wondering whether Germany is worth a little trip later this year, why not take the cue from the locals who certainly seem to think so…

Barbara Geier is a London-based freelance writer, translator and communications consultant. She is also the face behind www.germanyiswunderbar.com, a German travel and tourism guide and blog that was set up together with UK travel writer Andrew Eames in 2010.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Discover Germany, Switzerland & Austria.