Are vacationers avoiding the East because of the AfD? "I think that's just a lot of media nonsense."
Are vacationers interested in the politics of their destination? Tourism researcher Hasso Spode says: Moral debates about the "right" way to travel have a different origin.
Where can one still go on vacation with a clear conscience? Such debates are often conducted in the media. They range from climate change to dictators to the overcrowding of Mallorca . This year, eastern Germany became the focus of a strange debate about vacation morality. Vacationers are said to be avoiding the Baltic Sea or the Thuringian Forest because so many locals there vote for the AfD .
Historian and sociologist Hasso Spode, who researches, among other things, the history of tourism, is familiar with such discussions. And he can explain what actually concerns people before they book a trip. He discusses this over the phone from Berlin. His new book about travel has just been published, so he himself doesn't have time for a vacation right now.
Mr. Spode, shortly after the federal election and again before the holidays, some media outlets speculated that vacationers might avoid eastern Germany because many there vote for the AfD. Does politics play a role in vacation decisions? Well, certainly not within Germany. I think that's just a lot of media nonsense.
Isn't it conceivable that some people find this party and its voters so unpleasant that they prefer to stay away?
Because something is politically uncomfortable for them? No, that's nonsense. Then people wouldn't be able to travel to the Ruhr region, or parts of Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg, either. The most important thing for tourists is that their destination is relatively safe. We've had this debate about the East before, in the 1990s. Back then, it was justified. Images of the dormitory in Rostock-Lichtenhagen being attacked by incendiary devices were seen everywhere, and there were riots elsewhere as well. The horror and sense of insecurity were immense, and this was noticeable in tourism; West German vacationers stayed away.
Does politics play a role in foreign travel destinations? Do vacationers avoid dictatorships? This debate has been going on in Germany since the 1970s. Back then, it was about Spain. Was it allowed to go there under the dictator Franco? It was discussed at length, albeit only in certain circles—among the left—but it also became a major topic in the media. This wasn't reflected in bookings. The debates had no influence at all. At the same time, Spain rose to become the Germans' favorite travel destination.
"Should we open up a country we're going to? Or should we punish it?"Most people just went to Spain anyway?
Yes. Especially since there were two camps among those who wanted to make a stand against Franco. Some said, we're not going there, we're not bringing any money into the country, because that would destabilize the dictatorship. Others said, we're going there right now and are destabilizing the dictatorship through our presence, culturally so to speak. When Spain became a tourist destination, the police, the Guardia Civil, were still walking around on the beach and arresting women who were wearing bikinis. That was really bad.
Which camp was right?
As more and more tourists arrived, decency quickly faded. The burgeoning mass tourism actually helped undermine Franco's clerical-fascist regime. At the same time, many West Germans traveled to the Black Sea, Bulgaria, or Romania. The dictatorship in Romania was even worse than the one in Spain, but no one discussed that.
Why was Spain discussed?
The Franco dictatorship belonged to the "West" and enjoyed excellent relations with the German government, which naturally moved people more. Individual destinations are increasingly the focus of such media debates. I'm not aware of any major debates about whether one should travel to Turkey, even though a dictatorship is being gradually established there.
There are already people who do not go to Turkey for this reason.
Indeed, these are mostly politically vulnerable people with Turkish backgrounds, but a boycott debate is practically nonexistent. And where it is held, people are still caught in the same dilemma: Do we open up a country by going there, is it better to maintain contacts? Or should we punish it by not sending our money there?
This year, bookings to a popular travel destination have actually plummeted. Fewer Germans want to travel to the USA.
Yes, this can also be observed in Sweden, the Netherlands, and other European countries. Flights are already being canceled. The tourism industry in the US is in turmoil. Canadians are also no longer going there, as are the Chinese. Only among the British is the decline apparently relatively small.
Fewer trips to the US under Trump: “The tourist is a shy deer”A sign of protest against Trump?
That too, but it's more about security. Donald Trump is building an unpredictable regime. When the media reports that a German was arrested at the border, is incarcerated, and can't even speak to the ambassador, it has an enormous deterrent effect. Even if the chances of that happening to you are mathematically slim. You don't want to take that risk. That goes for me too; I have friends and relatives in America, but right now I don't want to go. Not to punish Trump, but because I feel unsafe. Erdogan isn't making that mistake in Turkey; I'm not aware of any case where German tourists were detained upon entry.
People are changing their vacation plans en masse because a few cases have been reported?
The tourist is a shy deer. Except for the half a percent of adventure vacationers who still want to go to Afghanistan, even under the Taliban. The average tourist avoids dangerous corners.
Does he also avoid dangerous temperatures? Recent summers have been very hot in Southern Europe. Will fewer people vacation there in the future?
I'm a historian, and I'm taking a look back. The Baedeker, the well-known travel guide, warned Germans around 1900 against traveling to Italy in the summer because of the unbearably hot, blinding sun. They said you could really only go to Italy in the winter. Nevertheless, many of the ten percent of the population who could afford a vacation were happy to travel there. What is considered too hot is very subjective. As a student, I spent half a year wandering around North Africa, sometimes in the desert. There have always been people who preferred to travel north in the summer; perhaps this group will grow somewhat in the future.
Did the ten percent of Germans who were able to think about travel a hundred years ago also think about which vacations were morally acceptable?
The moral concerns always concerned those who were the first to be able to afford a vacation, the up-and-coming classes. In 1849, before mass tourism even existed, the Baedeker's German guide railed against the "disgusting traveling rabble" that was spreading through the Rhine Valley thanks to the new steamships. During the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, around ten percent of Germans went on vacation; during the Nazi era, the figure was twenty percent. Around 1970, in both German states, about half the population went on vacation annually. Ever broader classes of society followed suit, and the number of vacationers steadily increased.
And the complaints about tourism too?
The cheap Spanish holidays, in particular, shocked the educated middle class. In 1973, Der Spiegel magazine ran the headline "Tourism Nightmare." Suddenly, tourism was fundamentally bad, the destroyer of the world. This remained the tone in the media. But a few years ago, a survey was conducted to determine what the majority of people thought about it. It showed that tourism has a very good reputation.
In Mallorca or Barcelona, locals would disagree. There are protests against overtourism.
You have to differentiate between the two. There's the tourist bashing by people who define themselves as travelers (but call others stupid tourists) and defend their privileged position. And there's the protest by people who truly suffer at the hands of the tourist crowds. The revolt of the tourists began decades ago in Switzerland, and since then it has recurred repeatedly in various places, currently primarily in Spain.
Are such protests successful?
It's difficult because the people who live in tourist destinations are always divided into winners and losers. Some live well from tourism, others suffer. If everyone in Mallorca were in agreement, the vacationers would have left long ago. Not a single megaliner, not a single cruise ship, would dock in Dubrovnik if no one wanted them there.
“Perhaps Europe will become the open-air museum of the world”Why do so many people want to travel to places where everyone else is going? Now you've also succumbed to the tourist bashing.
No, I'd begrudge everyone a trip to Venice. I'm asking this because I tend to avoid crowded areas myself.
Me too. But there have always been hotspots – and complaints about them. As early as 1780, people were saying: Europe is flooded with English people. They all met at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which everyone said was a must-see. Later, other things played a role. The fact that bargains were offered, for example. Spain was a desperately poor country when tourism began there. Franco brought investors in who built hotels; in Germany, there were tour operators who organized trips there. This directed the flow of tourists to certain areas.
The hotspots will become even more crowded because even more people want to see them, you write in your new book.
Yes, the Chinese and the Indians have some catching up to do. There's still a lot to come. Perhaps Europe will become what Italy already is within Europe. The open-air museum of the world.
In Germany, people are spending less money this year, we hear from holiday regions.
The coronavirus crisis is not yet over. The economy is weakening. People have less money in their pockets. At the same time, prices for accommodations and restaurants are skyrocketing. Even a currywurst on the beach sometimes costs four euros. But the annual vacation is a basic necessity for many people; even in severe economic crises, people have money for vacations. They even traveled during the oil crisis in the 1970s.
But a little cheaper?
There are historical parallels here, too. When the Great Depression began in 1929, Germans who had already traveled continued to do so. Only in economy class, that is, third class on the railway, they stayed in private accommodations instead of hotels. People are trying to cut costs. We're seeing something similar now.
Berliner-zeitung
