Tourism Experts Say Hot Summer Means Higher Turnover

Germany has been the most popular destination for vacationing Germans in the past few years. Record temperatures and endless blue skies make the country even more attractive for nationals seeking relaxation.

"Germany is profiting from the hot summer," Sibylle Zeuch, spokeswoman for the German Travel Association, which represents 5,000 different travel agencies and organizers, told the Netzeitung.

Zeuch added that in the past few years, about one third of the trips that Germans took lasting longer than five days were spent inland.

"This trend will see a significant increase this year with the hot summer we've been having," she said.

"Germany has many special attractions"

Thilo Braune, president of the German Tourism Association, said many regions in Germany have not exhausted their capacity.

"Germany has so much to offer," he said. "There are special attractions everywhere, but often they are not marketed well enough."

High marketing costs are prohibitive and regional Web sites are still inadequate, he added.

Claudia Gilles, managing director of the German Travel Association, told Netzeitung that the seaside is a magnet for Germans vacationing in their home country.

"Campgrounds on the North and Baltic Seas are packed right now," she said.

She also expects the beautiful weather to have a positive effect on Germany's tourism economy. However, precise figures on the number of booked overnight stays within the country will not be reported until October.

"The Baltic Sea may replace the Mediterranean as a vacation spot"

Theo Eberhard, a professor of tourism at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, expects the trend to increase. Since global warming is likely to continue causing heat waves in central Europe, he said, eastern Europe is becoming an attractive destination for traveling Germans.

"Germans follow the sun," he said. "But if the sun gets too hot for them, they avoid the south and head east."

Once Germans start feeling the Baltic climate to be more pleasant than that of the Mediterranean, the demand for vacations in Baltic countries will grow, he added.

People from all over Europe may also start following the trend, he added.

"But we'll just have to wait and see what happens," he said. "Tourism is like a traveling circus. It changes all the time. People's travel habits change as quickly as consumer behavior does."