Where are you going on your next holiday?

Of the almost 20 million German citizens who already have firm travel plans for 1990, around a quarter (28 %) want to go on holiday in their own country. All the others are looking for foreign holiday destinations. Spain (11 %) , Austria (8 %) and Italy (7 %) remain the frontrunners in the travel favourites of Germans this year.

However, Spain and Italy must expect a decline of 2 percentage points compared to the previous year's travel intentions. This is the result of a representative survey of 1595 German citizens aged 14 and over conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute.

There are also signs of a shift in domestic holiday destinations. In 1989, 5 per cent of respondents wanted to spend their holiday at the North Sea; in 1990, 6 per cent expressed this wish. The most popular domestic holiday destinations remain the Allgäu and the foothills of the Bavarian Alps (7 %) . However, German citizens were somewhat more optimistic about this a year earlier (9 %) . The foreign „in“ destination of 1990 could be Greece. 6 per cent (1989: 5 %) of respondents want to spend at least two weeks on holiday in the country of the Greeks.

No travel run to the GDR in 1990

Around 0.6 million German citizens have chosen the GDR as their next travel destination and want to spend at least two weeks on holiday there in 1990. This corresponds to 3 per cent of German citizens with firm travel intentions - just 1 per cent more than in the previous year. Only the inhabitants of regions close to the border, especially in West Berlin and Hesse (6 % each) show greater interest in a holiday in the GDR. Prof. Dr Horst W. Opaschowski, Scientific Director of the BAT Leisure Research Institute, comments: „GDR holidaymakers in 1990 want to embark on the adventure of curiosity, discovery and encounter tourism, where the desire to get to know the country and its people is greater than the risk of not finding suitable accommodation.“

However, the vast majority of holidaymakers are realists: they know that there are limits to the new freedom to travel as long as there is a lack of efficient tourist infrastructure. Most German citizens will be satisfied with day trips and weekend holidays. The BAT Institute therefore expects less of a run on the scarce East German holiday accommodation in 1990 than the danger of rampant car and coach excursion traffic, in which ecological burdens would be exported to the GDR, but the foreign currency would largely remain in their own country - above all in hotels and guesthouses in the West German border regions.

Technical data of the survey

Number of respondents: 4,000 people, including 1595 with a firm intention to travel
Representation: Federal territory and West Berlin, population aged 14 and over (48.8 million)

Survey period: 11 to 24 January 1990

Question:
„Do you intend to go on a longer holiday (at least 2 weeks) in 1990? And where do you want to go on holiday in 1990?“