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Teaching aim: Descriptive introduction into tourism in Germany with special emphasis on different types of tourism and its spatial patterns.
Keywords: Tourism, leisure oriented mobility, holiday destinations, holiday trips, spa-resorts, city tourism, accommodation industry, intensity of tourism, national parks, guests from foreign countries |
The increasing significance of tourism is due to different economic, social and environmental factors that influence the travel habits of Germans. Growing incomes, more free time as well as a higher life expectancy, mobility (e.g., motorization) and progress in communication technology are some of the reasons why travel has become an important part of almost everybody’s life.
The diverse relief and waterways, large forest areas as well as natural and artificial water basins especially in the areas that were covered by ice during glaciation (e.g. Holsteinische Schweiz, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte [1] and in the Central Uplands (Sauerland [2]) provide Germany with attractive recreational areas. Furthermore, increasing rationality and functionality at work places are reasons why people are longing for new environmental and nature events. At the same time, consumerism and the commercial exploitation of nature at accessible locations are creating increasing problems.
Tourism traffic [3] is not only directed towards beautiful countryside but also towards cultural sites as well as modern recreational facilities (e.g. adventure parks [4]). Among the favourite destinations are historic cities (e.g. Rothenburg [5], Luebeck [6]), castles, fortresses, churches and cathedrals as well as a large variety of museums and exhibitions. Festivals, public festivals or traditional games can also encourage leisure time. Every year, many thousand people visit the strongholds of carnival [7].
The early beginnings of German tourism date back to pilgrimage. Pilgrimage to the grave of St. Elisabeth of Marburg [8], for example, or to Kevelaer [9] at the Lower Rhine or the Bavarian town of Altötting [10] are signs of deep devoutness. Another stimulus was the people’s need for healing and recovering through bathing in healing springs. The first thermal springs were built already by the Romans (Aachen, Trier). Thus, the fall of the Roman Empire caused the decline of the thermal baths. Not before the 13th/14th century did the rising bourgeoisie of the cities cause a revival. An essential recovery of health resorts started in the beginning of the 19th century (Baden-Baden [11]).
Early seaside health resorts are Heiligendamm [12] (close to Doberan/Mecklenburg) and Norderney (Ostfriesland). At the beginning, bathing was not the centre of interest but rather entertainment, fun and only sometimes health motives (for historic development and sociological reasons see Kulinat/Steinecke 1984: 40ff.).
Since the second half of the 19th century, industrialisation had a strong impact on the advance of tourism. New work places, regular incomes and the legal set up of working times including the right to holidays were important preconditions for increasing tourism. The expansion of the transport system (railway, ship) also promoted leisure-oriented mobility. With the further easing of travel restrictions in the course of the 20th century, the demand for accommodation in seaside and related health resorts as well as other locations for summer holidays and winter sport raised even more.
Due to German separation, it is difficult to analyse the development for the whole country after World War II. In the former GDR, the number of trips was - despite a great demand – restricted and not every citizen could decide about his preferred destination. Holiday resorts and vacation homes were directed by the state-directed unions. To get access to one of the popular holiday sites along the Baltic coast (Usedom [13]), Ruegen [14], in the Harz mountains, the Thueringer Wald [15], the Elbsandsteingebirge [16] or the Erzgebirge was a long way through different authorities such as the leaders of the union, or for the children and teenagers the youth organisation Junge Pioniere or FDJ, and the school. The state union council ‘FDGB’ established a holiday service that developed into a big organisation after its foundation in 1947. It was responsible for the provision of hostels and campgrounds. It also participated in Interhotels and arranged private accommodation. A so-called ‘holiday check’ (Ferienscheck) existed that was given predominantly to industrial workers, families with three or more children, and to selected workers who had been active in social and political matters.
The development in West Germany was completely different. There, travel intensity almost tripled within 40 years. In 1954, only 24 percent of the citizens made a trip with at least four overnight stays, whereas in 1992 the share was up to 60 percent. Also the means of transport changed dramatically. In 1953, the railway was with 52 percent of all trips the most frequent means of transport. However, it was replaced mainly by the automobile in the following years. Further changes can be observed regarding travel destinations: in 1954, 85 percent of the tourists spent their holidays in Germany, whereas 56 percent went abroad in 1992.
The accomodation industry [17] is one important section of the tourism industry. Different forms of establishments address diverse needs. Among the commercial accommodations are hotels, inns, boarding houses, and bed-and-breakfast hotels (hotel garnis). Next to these so-called classic hotel businesses are holiday homes, training schools, huts and youth hostels. Hospitals and sanatoria are important for tourists at health resorts. Vacation houses and dwellings as well as holiday centres are gaining increasing popularity especially among younger travellers and families. Less conventional accommodations are motels and campgrounds.
90 percent of all guest beds can be found in the western Laender. However, the numbers in eastern Germany are growing quickly. Thus, a further expansion of accommodation capacity [18] can be expected in the near future. Most of the beds are in Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. Among the new Laender, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony and Thuringia are leading. Accommodations in the city states Berlin and Hamburg as well as Hesse and Saarland are working to best capacity. 72 percent of all accommodation units can be classified as classic accommodations; among them, hotels and bed-and-breakfast places [19] are predominant.
Regarding the future development of the types and equipping of the hotels, increasing diversification can be observed. High-quality hotel resorts – especially in the bigger cities – are offered as well as inexpensive accommodation mainly in easy accessible locations (e.g. close to highways). In tourist areas, the provision of vacation apartments and the development of complex holiday centres is an ongoing trend. Some lodges offer their guests a high degree of independence and thus are relatively good priced.
An important indicator for tourism is the number of overnight stays by tourists. The observed upswing since the 1950s is difficult to prove by numbers. Referring to the law for the statistics in overnight stays (Gesetz ueber die Statistik der Beherbergung im Reiseverkehr) from July 7, 1980, small lodges and private quarters with less than nine beds do not need to report their number of guests any more. However, up to 1980 all overnight stays were registered and summarised by the communities with more than 5,000 overnight stays.
In 1997, 287,2 million (1988: 294.5 million) overnight stays were counted. Regarding the spatial distribution among the Laender [20], Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony are leading. The new Laender account for 16 percent of all stays. There, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are among the first.
The so-called tourism intensity (number of overnight stays per 1000 inhabitants) is one measure for the economic importance of tourism for a region or district. Schleswig-Holstein is with a number of 7,556 (1997) far above average, even though it is only on average position regarding absolute numbers. Next following are Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony. The average length of stay is decreasing constantly and reached 3.1 days per day in 1998. This is partly due to a higher frequency of travels per year. Visitors from foreign countries stay in Germany an average of 2.2 days (1997).
One can differentiate between different types of tourism by looking at overnight stays of tourists regarding the type of accommodation [21] and groups of communities [22]. Vacation centres and holiday houses or apartments – typical accommodation for holiday tourism - account for 12 percent and thus lag behind Hotels (37 percent) and sanatoriums (14 percent). Increases in the number of overnight stays can be observed for seaside health resorts, climatic health and other resorts. Spa-resorts were confronted with a strong downswing due to the reform of the public health service. Especially healing bath resorts experienced a strong decrease in overnight stays since they depend heavily on social security patients (e.g. Bad Wildungen). Remarkable are differences in the average time of stay among different types of tourism. In sanatoria, people stay the longest (28.5 days). Above average are also vacation houses and apartments (8,8 days), vacation centres (5.7 days), guest houses (4.9 days) and holiday homes (4.5 days). These numbers refer to the cure traffic as well as to the holiday tourism. Another segment is the city tourism [23] which has been expanding tremendously during the last years.
Even though German guests account for a large majority of overnight stays, the share of foreign tourists is remarkable (1997: 11.6 percent). However, the share is much higher in West Germany (12.6 percent) than in the East (6.5 percent). The overnight stays of foreign visitors are concentrated in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Wurttemberg and Hesse, in the new Laender in Saxony. Out of a total of 33.4 million overnight stays by foreign guests [24] (1997), 15.2 percent come from the Netherlands. Next are the US (10.9 percent), Great Britain (8.9 percent), Italy (5.6 percent), Switzerland (5.1 percent), France (4.8 percent), Belgium (4.2 percent), Austria (4.1 percent) and Japan (4.0 percent). Among these guests, many are business people as well as sightseeing tourists. Apart from economic interests, the political aspect of the so-called incoming tourism matters. With regard to holiday travels, foreign tourists prefer the Rheingau, the Mittelrheintal, the Mosel-Saar region and the Eifel-Ahr region, the Romantische Strasse (romantic road), and the Werdenfelser Land (Becker 1984) (Karte notwendig!!!!). With regard to city tourism, most of the foreign visitors can be found in Munich (1.4 million overnight stays), Frankfurt/Main (1.1 million), Berlin (0.9 million), Cologne and Hamburg (0.5 respectively), Duesseldorf (0.4 million), and Heidelberg (0.2 million).
Also of special interest is the differentiation of tourism regarding the different travel regions which is provided by the Federal Statistical Office together with the statistical offices of the Laender. There, non-administrative spatial units (e.g., Holsteinische Schweiz, Teutoburger Wald, Oberallgaeu [25]) are split up by the area of responsibility of the regional tourism associations and the natural landscapes.
Apart from longer holidays also shorter trips are possible, especially on the weekends. Of special interest for this kind of tourism (the so-called short-term vacation) are scenic landscapes with forests, open lands and water reservoirs. The increasing number of short-term trips is encouraged by the expansion of highways as well as an improved public transport system and thus demands intensive planning of existing and proposed leisure infrastructure as well as protection of extensive recreational areas.
In this context, natural and national parks [26] gain increasing importance. Natural parks [27] cover areas that are protected because of their beautiful landscape and their special recreational value for the people. Agriculture and forestry are not restricted there, though the building of streets and settlements is bound to a small number. Furthermore, nature parks are developed for recreational purposes with parking spaces, hiking trails, tourist routes for motorists, view points, shelters, park, benches, nature trails, trim trails, recreational facilities, sunbathing lawns, as well as accommodation in hotels, guest houses, and youth hostels.
In contrast to natural parks that serve mainly recreational and leisure needs, national parks [28] are founded for the protection of plants, animals and typical landscapes from exploitation and extinction. National parks (e.g., Nationalpark Harz [29] or Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer [30]) are ‘legally fixed, homogeneously protected areas that are extensive and of special kind and reach the expectations of a nature reserve in most of their territory. Human impact on the nature reserve is limited since the aim is to preserve a potentially species-rich plant and animal world’ (see Federal Statistical Office 1998: 106ff.).
For the conservation of agriculture in peripheral regions the concept of ‘holiday on farms’ [31] is essential. This kind of ideal family holidays became popular already more then three decades ago. In the 1970s, it was still understood as a possibility of inexpensive recreation in simple lodgings. Due to increasing competition the quality increased permanently, even though vacation on farms is still a good bargain.
In total, tourism is an important economic factor [32] for Germany. Especially in those regions that are not heavily industrialised and are located far away from industrial and tertiary centres the income from tourism is of major importance for employment and the promotion of regional economic strength. Next to the catering sector and the accommodation industry, also retailing and other service suppliers profit from tourism.
Questions that may be asked:
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[1]
http://www.all-in-all.com/karte5.htm
[2]
http://www.sauerland-touristik.de/de/
[3] http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtxt.htm
[4] http://www.phantasialand.de/
[5] http://www.rothenburg.de/
[6]
http://www.luebeck.de/index.html
[7] http://www.info-mainz.de/veranst/mpg/index.htm
[8] http://www.elisabethkirche.de/rundgang/index8.htm
[9] http://www.kevelaer.de/
[10] http://www.altoetting.de/sehens/gnadenkapelle.htm
[11] http://www.baden-baden.de/
[12] http://www.m-vp.de/baederverband/orte/heiligendamm.html
[13] http://www.usedom.de/index_e.html
[14] http://www.wild-east.de/meckpom/ruegen/map.htm
[15]
http://www.oberhof.de/
[16] http://www.elbsandsteingebirge.de/
[17] http://www.dehoga.de/daten/daten1.htmml
[18] http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab3.htm
[19] http://www.dehoga.de/sterne/sterne.htm
[20] http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab3.htm
[21]
http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab5.htm
[22]
http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab6.htm
[23]
http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab7.htm
[24]
http://www.destatis.de/basis/e/tour/tourtab4.htm
[25]
http://www.oberallgaeu.de
[26]
http://www.bfn.de/01/index.htm
[27]
http://www.naturpark.de/naturparke/main.html
[28]
http://www.nationalparke.net/home/navigation.html#
[29]
http://www.nationalpark-harz.de
[30]
http://www.wattenmeer-nationalpark.de/
[31]
http://www.landurlaub.de/
[32]
http://www.drv.de/navigation/navi_8.html
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