German tourists are infamous in Europe and beyond for their habit of getting up early to go down to the pool and saving a chair with their beach towel before returning to bed or heading off to a leisurely breakfast.

But they won't have to get up at the crack of dawn anymore, even to get that coveted spot.

Vacationing Germans now have the option of reserving their poolside loungers long before they even arrive at their destination.

The option is offered to those booking with the German branch of Thomas Cook, Europe's second-largest travel company, and is available - for a fee - at nine hotels in Turkey, Egypt and the Canary Islands.

Mathias Brandes, head of communications at Thomas Cook in Germany, told Reuter's news agency that people from other nations won't be able to take advantage of the recliner reservation service as it is only offered for vacationers who book their holidays from Germany - potentially making an already volatile situation even worse.

Two years ago, a bus driver named Glyn Bowden became so fed up with German tourists reserving every recliner that he set fire to all their towels.

According to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, he twice took the towels away and left them on the side of the pool - but on the third day set fire to them. Bowden spent two hours in a cell at a local police station before hotel management could persuade officers to release him without charge.

mm/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Kyle James