Bookings have soared for resorts on Germany’s Baltic Sea and North Sea coastlines this summer, and initial signs from the first few weeks of the summer holidays are that the country’s beaches will be full and accommodation nearly booked out. Many resorts are staging events, such as festivals, concerts and open-air cinema, and are adding attractions to keep families entertained, especially if the weather proves changeable.
Germany is already the top holiday destination for Germans, ahead of the main foreign destinations such as Spain, Italy, Turkey, Austria and France, according to various annual surveys.
“There’s hardly anything left available now. The beachfront row is virtually booked out,” said Joachim Nitz, tourism director at Timmendorfer Strand, a popular Baltic Sea resort (with a 7km beach) close to L?beck, and about 80km north-east of Hamburg.
Destinations on the coastlines of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern already reported good business for May and June. The Schleswig-Holstein tourism board said it had seen “a strong start to the season”, while “the mood is good” in the East Frisian coastal region of Lower Saxony with little accommodation still available.
Slight growth
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the coastal state north of Berlin, has seen slight growth so far this year. “60% of the hoteliers expect bookings at last year’s level, and 20% even expect better business than last year,” said Tobias Woitendorf, from the regional tourist board, citing a pre-summer season survey. Advance bookings in the spring for this summer were between five and ten per cent higher than in 2015.
None of the German destinations wants to be seen as ‘profiting’ from the slump in demand for Turkey or the current overall drop in package holiday bookings. Instead, they emphasise that this year’s growth merely strengthens the general trend towards more domestic holidays seen in recent years.
“We’ve seen for a while that holidays in Germany are getting more popular,” said Carolin Ganschinietz, from East Frisia Tourism. “We are a strong destination and want to develop our own strengths.” Similarly, Joachim Nitz believes that people are not choosing Timmendorfer Strand because of a lack of alternatives. “The investments from the last few years are paying off now. People realise that you can have a good holiday here.”
Another positive factor for German destinations this year is that the regional school summer holidays are spread over a longer period this year, thus extending the season. “Our top source markets of North Rhine Westphalia, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Lower Saxony follow each other nicely,” commented Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Woitendorf.
Read more here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
