Generally, short leisure times are spent at home, watching television, listening to the radio, reading newspapers and magazines, and also visiting friends and relatives. These activities are common in all over the world.
Leisure time in Germany is one of the most, compare to the world. This is as they have one of the most annual leaves. It includes “minimum of 25 days of paid holiday per year by law, plus public and religious holidays and yearly increments, which can take some up to 35 days a year.” Which such an advantage, Germans’ demand for tourism naturally arises.
Tourism
Due to the large numbers of cultural aspects and museums, Germany’s “domestic tourism increased by 4% in 2007, with domestic business tourism growing faster than domestic leisure tourism.”
One of the other factors leading to domestic tourism is due to the economy status in the recent years. It has not been at its best. With the new discovery of a mountain hike and cycling holiday, Germans seek new cultural destinations, especially when the cycling tracks are along all major German rivers.
Sports
During leisure time, 45% of Germans participate in active sports.
Popularity measured by sports club members
- Football
- Tennis
- Shooting
- Light atheletics
- Handball
- Horse riding
- Fishing
- Table tennis
Roller-blading, mountain biking, pilates, yoga and swimming are popular sports as well. It is just that these various sports club are not so established as the ones mentioned above, and therefore they are not in the list.
From a survey done by Destatis, we can see that German’s favourite sport is football. This is very much influenced by the German women’s team as they became world champions.
For younger people, winter sports such as snow-boarding, ice-skating and skiing are their favourites.
Social events
It is common to be invited to your neighbour’s or friend’s house for a BBQ session as most of the houses have a garden. This is where people can meet up to talk about anything under the sun. During summer time, beer gardens are a great place for socialising as the sun is not too scorching. Germans who cannot afford to dine there can also bring their own food there.
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| Beer Garden |
Others
Germany is a country with ageing population. One of the rising trends is gardening, and this activity is generally associated with the old. This is as they are generally more appreciative of the nature, and it takes up more time that only they can afford. Also, with even more leisure time they have, to watch their garden bloom is a huge satisfaction.
Of course, there are also those that play computer games during their leisure time, as this is inevitable due to globalization.
Bibliography:
Euromonitor International. (2010). Consumer Lifestyle - Germany. Retrieved 8 December, 2010, from Passport GMID: http://ezproxy.tp.edu.sg:2077/Portal/Magazines/Topic.aspx
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