It appears that the novelty of putting their towels out on sunbeds at daft o’clock every morning has finally worn off with the Germans.
Reserved Sunbeds Could Be A Thing Of The Past
One German tour operator had even launched a service allowing German holidaymakers to pre-reserve sun loungers; however as fewer Germans appear to be taking beach holidays every year, us Brits can finally claim our place in the sun.
‘Towelgate’ dates back to the 1960s when tourism in the Mediterranean began to take off. Whether it was as a direct result of the Second Word War, pay back for the 1966 world cup final, or simply that us Brits were lazier on a morning, the Germans appeared to be on a mission to bag the best sunbeds before anyone else got out of bed.
Recent statistics show a decline in the number of Germans taking beach holidays abroad leading to a drop in the number of reserved sunbeds.
In 1998, nearly two thirds of Germans took holiday to foreign seaside resorts yet by 2010 the number had dropped to just over half. A survey for the ITB Berlin travel trade show revealed that Germans now prefer cruises with bookings rising a staggering 92% since 2002. Germans booking city breaks has also risen by 53% since 2000 indicating that traditional holidays spent on the beach or by the pool are going out of fashion for German holidaymakers, and that can only be good new for the rest of us when it comes to finding a sunbed!
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