BAT Institute presents second all-German holiday analysis

Germans in East and West like to travel a lot. And yet they differ: West Germans travel less, but further. East Germans travel more often, but for shorter periods. East Germans (still) spend most of their holidays in Germany, whereas most West Germans prefer to travel abroad. This is one of the findings of the second all-German holiday analysis conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute. 5,000 German citizens aged 14 and over (West: 4,000 - East: 1,000) were questioned on a representative basis from 11 to 24 January this year about their holiday behaviour in 1991 and their travel plans for 1992.

Domestic destinations 1991: Bavaria in boom

Last year, 41 per cent of West Germans and 67 per cent of East Germans opted for a domestic holiday. The most popular holiday destinations for one in nine West Germans (11 %) and one in seven East Germans (16 %) were Eastern Bavaria, Upper Bavaria and the Allgäu. Bavaria must be considered „the“ domestic winner of the ’91 travel season. Compared to the previous year, this destination has shown exceptional growth rates (West + 3, East + 9 percentage points). The holiday regions of the North Sea are also among the winners of the past travel season. West Germans rediscovered the North Sea (1990: 5 %, 1991: 8 %), East Germans rediscovered the North Sea (1990: 4 %, 1991: 7 %).

The East German holiday regions were on the downside of the domestic travel boom. The new German citizens abandoned their own holiday regions en masse: while every second East German holidaymaker stayed there in 1990, the proportion fell drastically to 21 per cent in 1991. And only 4 per cent of West German holidaymakers (1990: 3 %) chose the five new federal states as their holiday destination.

Destinations abroad 1991: Austria wins the season

Austria was able to increase its share from 9 to 10 per cent among West Germans travelling abroad and catch up with Italy. In 1991, Spain remained the most popular destination for West Germans travelling abroad (13 %), although it did lose ground compared to the two previous years (16 %).

Moreover, the Gulf War threatened not only to change the flow of tourists, but also to divert it. The balance of the travel season confirms this assessment: Greece, Turkey and Tunisia/Morocco recorded declines in the past season.

From an East German perspective, the international travel balance is somewhat different. Austria again benefited the most from the new freedom to travel. Spain and Italy have also become new dream destinations for East Germans with significant growth rates. Hungary has remained an attractive destination for East Germans.

If domestic and international travel are combined, it can be seen that the Gulf War and the Yugoslavian conflict hardly affected Germans' desire to travel in 1991. 43 per cent of West Germans stayed at home. However, for years this proportion of the West German population who do not go on holiday has been close to the 42 per cent mark. Among East Germans, the proportion not travelling or holidaying at home has even fallen (38 % compared to 41 %).

However, East and West Germans made different use of their travel options. Last year, 45 per cent of the West German population took a holiday lasting at least 14 days. The proportion of East German holidaymakers who took a two-week holiday (39 %) was slightly lower, although there appears to be an alignment with West German holiday habits.

According to the BAT Institute's new representative surveys, the average duration of trips in 1991 was only 15.3 days for West German holidaymakers and only 11.0 days for East German holidaymakers. „The three-week trip is slowly dying out,“ says Prof Dr Horst W. Opaschowski, Director of the BAT Institute. „The vast majority of the population can no longer afford or no longer want to take a holiday lasting 20 days or more.“

1992: Travelling at its peak

1992 promises to be an excellent holiday season for the industry. Already today, 44 per cent of West Germans intend to take a longer holiday trip of at least two weeks in the coming months. Compared to previous years, the West German population demonstrates an extraordinarily high willingness to travel.

The travel intentions of the East German population (46 %) reach a peak value that even surpasses the travel plans of West Germans. The proportion of West Germans and East Germans (26 % each) who are still „unsure“ about their travel plans is significantly lower than in the previous year. Professor Opaschowski: „All signs point to this: Germans‚ desire to travel is heading for a new peak in 1992. Similar to the travel year 1987, which was categorised by the industry as a ‘super season“."

Over two thirds of West Germans are travelling abroad. Only just under a third of West Germans do not want to travel abroad in 1992 (30 %). And among East Germans, tourism within their own country is clearly reaching its limits. Last year, 65 per cent of new German citizens still wanted to go on holiday to German (mainly West German) holiday destinations, and 68 per cent did so. This year, not even one in two East Germans (47 %) expressed this intention.

In 1992, there will hardly be a „winner“ of the season when it comes to holiday destinations abroad. Growth rates across the board, as far as the budget allows, will be driven primarily by East German holidaymakers in neighbouring countries: one in ten will go to Spain, one in eleven to Austria and one in twenty to Italy or Greece.

As in previous years, West Germans primarily want to visit traditional holiday destinations such as Spain (11 %), Austria (10 %), Italy (7 %) and Greece (7 %) in 1992. Long-haul holiday destinations are coming within reach: The USA (4 %) and the Caribbean (2 %) could be the rising stars of the ’92 travel season.

Sleeping - sunbathing - excursions: The holiday activities of the Germans

The top holiday activities for Germans are excursions (70 %), bathing and swimming (56 %), hiking (54 %) and shopping (50 %). Active holidays in the sense of sports holidays remain attractive - but only for a minority: only around a fifth of the population were enthusiastic about „doing sports“ (22 %) or „cycling“ (19 %) on their last holiday. On the other hand, sleeping late (49 %) and lying in the sun (51 %) top the list of holiday passivities.

Holidaymakers find themselves in a constant oscillation between activity and relaxation, adventure and recreation, tension and rest. West and East Germans set very specific accents and priorities. While West Germans prefer to laze around on holiday, sleep late (West: 50 % - East: 42 %) and prefer to lie in the sun (58 % - 43 %), swim (58 % - 49 %) and read a book (38 % - 26 %), East Germans are obviously too lazy to go on holiday: they simply don't want to miss out on anything. Compared to West Germans, they favour hiking on holiday (West: 52 % - East: 59 %), shopping (52 % - 59 %) and visiting art-historical buildings (33 % - 39 %). There is still a lot of catching up to do.

Cleanliness and cosiness are decisive for holiday quality

The results of the BAT survey indicate this: Germans in the East and West obviously can't „get out of their skin“ on holiday either. Regardless of the actual holiday destination, price, cuisine, fitness and entertainment programmes are not the decisive factors for them when choosing their holiday destination. For them, one thing counts above all: cleanliness. Two thirds of German holidaymakers (West: 65 % - East: 68 %) consider cleanliness to be the most important requirement that must be met on holiday today. For women in particular (71 %), holiday quality starts with cleanliness. Accommodation that does not stand up to their critical eye hardly stands a chance.

And there is another respect in which the mentality gap between East and West Germans does not exist. Every second German citizen - whether from East (50 %) or West (59 %) - expects a „cosy atmosphere“ before going on holiday. And this is not a generational issue: the post-war generation of 30 to 49-year-olds expects more cosiness from their holiday destination (53 %) than the war and pre-war generations of over 65-year-olds (49 %). German Gemütlichkeit is not dying out! Modern hospitality (West: 43 % - East: 47 %) can only replace cosiness to a limited extent. Cosiness is hoped for and desired, hospitality is expected and demanded.

In the age of mass tourism and mass motorisation, but also of speed and high speed, the criterion of accessibility can become a question of existence for some holiday destinations. Around one in two holidaymakers (West: 45 % - East: 53 %) already make their personal decision dependent on the „good accessibility“ of the destination.

Young people on holiday: pubs and discos more important than an intact environment

Everyone is talking about the environment - and German holidaymakers are no exception: Two out of five holidaymakers dream of a „natural environment“ (West: 42 % - East: 33 %) or specifically choose an „environmentally friendly holiday destination“ (36 % - 41 %). It is striking here that the younger generation of 14 to 29 year olds attaches the least importance to environmental friendliness compared to the other age groups. For the younger generation, pubs and cafés on holiday are more important (44 %) than an environmentally friendly holiday resort (33 %), discos and dance bars more attractive (42 %) than a natural environment (36 %) at the destination. Opaschowski: „Environmental awareness must obviously not hurt. For many young holidaymakers, the fun of soft tourism stops when the holiday destination
nothing is going on.“

Means of transport: the aeroplane is replacing the train

Air travel is becoming increasingly important as a means of holiday travel. Almost one in four West Germans took a charter flight (16 %) or a scheduled flight (7 %) on their last holiday trip. With the growing importance of air travel, rail travel is in danger of being sidelined. Only one tenth of West German holidaymakers (10 %) now use the train as their mode of transport.

However, the proportion of West German air travellers is still four to five times higher (West: 23 % - East: 5 %), while East Germans use the train (10 % - 20 %) and the car (48 % - 56 %) more for holiday purposes.

A holiday from the car? Most car holidaymakers are not prepared to give up their cars

The respondents who had travelled by car on their last holiday were asked specifically whether they could have reached their holiday destination by another means of transport. 85 per cent of car drivers answered this question with „yes“, i.e. the criterion of accessibility was not of decisive importance for the vast majority of car drivers when choosing their means of transport.

Finally, car holidaymakers were asked another question: „Would you be prepared to give up travelling by car in the future?“ A clear majority categorically reject the idea of not travelling by car, with West Germans (59 %) and East Germans (63 %) not too far apart in their opinions. It seems that the pain threshold for car ownership on holiday has not yet been reached.

Fast, convenient and inexpensive, safe, comfortable and cosy: what car drivers praise as the special quality of travelling by car turns out to be a legend. The survey of holidaymakers who used a means of transport on their last trip shows the „myth of the car“ in a different light. Of a total of 20 features that characterise the quality of a holiday trip, the car as a means of transport can only lay claim to two: 61 percent of holidaymakers are of the opinion that you can travel „independent of time“ by car; a further 55 percent emphasise the „flexibility or freedom of movement“ of car travel. Otherwise, the car has far more disadvantages than advantages as a holiday vehicle: The aeroplane is faster, the train is considered safer and the bus is cheaper.