Why do Germans like to travel?

1. Germans really love traveling

First of all, we must affirm the subjective feelings of the questioner. The Germans are truly the people in the world who love traveling the most and practice it. A recent piece of news lamented that Germany had been the "World Travel Champion" for decades. In 2012, a Chinese research report came out, confirming that the Germans had been overthrown by the Chinese. The reason is that the total expenditure of tourists in Germany in 2012 was approximately US$82 billion, which is less than that of Chinese tourists, who spent approximately US$90 billion (65% was spent on shopping, which is truly unrivaled). In addition, because the euro is not strong, even the United States, which has been ranked second for a thousand years, has not been able to surpass it and fell to the third position. 1 However, the data obtained by the German authoritative organization F.U.R are different. Germans’ annual travel expenditure in 2012 was 83 billion euros (about 100 billion US dollars) 2 - regardless of the data deviation, the more important thing may be per capita: even according to the first Based on the statistical results, visual inspection seems to show that China is the world's largest population with a population of 1.3 billion, the United States is second with a population of 300 million, and Germany has a population of only over 80 million.

Germany has a statistical concept called "tourism intensity", which refers to the total population of Germans over the age of 14 who have taken at least one trip of at least five days in a year. percentage. There are two key points in this concept: 1. One person who travels repeatedly is still counted as one person; 2. One person travels multiple times in the year, and the total number of days is more than five days, but does not have the experience of traveling for five consecutive days, which does not meet the standards. ——This data has continued to grow since the 1950s, reaching a peak of 78% in 1994, and has remained at around 75% since then. 23Other countries do not seem to have this statistical concept. But judging from the statistics of other data, I am afraid that as of now, it is difficult for anyone to compare with Germany.

The above data are presented to illustrate the popularity and depth of this leisure activity. Going out for fun is definitely the top priority for Germans in their year-round plans. Now put aside the data and talk about intuitive feelings. Most of the Germans I have met uphold the fine tradition of being diligent and thrifty rather than enjoying themselves. I usually work hard, but at the beginning of the year I have signed up for my annual leave during the peak summer travel season and booked the itinerary and hotel. I just wait until that time comes, and happily go to tourist places that cheat and rip off customers and be the victim of a crime once or twice for two weeks. There are very few exceptions. What are the causes of such a uniform way of life and leisure? (Someone upstairs said that people like to travel. I don’t think so. For example, in China, there are many people who go out to play when they have free time, but it is not necessarily as good as staying at home when they have free time, reading books, watching movies and playing games, or There are many people who go to bars, sing karaoke, drink and play mahjong with relatives and friends)

2. The historical causes of love for travel

The "money" and "freedom" proposed by @taowu. This is a necessary condition for the formation of the phenomenon, but not a sufficient condition. There are many citizens who have money and leisure, but I don’t see any Germans being so crazy. As for the discussion about the love of travel based on cultural traditions - 1. The "year of travel" of craftsmen, this spiritual practice limited to specific industries began early, but it was gradually abolished from the end of the 18th century. Although there were one or two short-lived minor revivals in the 20th century, they failed to materialize. 2. It is not uncommon to hear travel stories from celebrities throughout the ages. Until the first half of the 20th century, travel was the exclusive preserve of the rich, aristocratic, scholars and celebrities from the higher social classes. It has absolutely nothing to do with the general public! Tao Wu's answer was full of yearning for the literary and artistic atmosphere of a foreign country.

But using these two items as evidence, how can we explain the paranoia of today’s public about tourism activities?