Vacation traffic jams across Germany, Austria and into Italy indicate that Germans have decided to spend summer closer to home according to the ADAC motoring club. On the losing side are Turkey and Greece.
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ADAC spokesman Jochen Oesterle said an unusually large volume of German motorists caught in tailbacks into Austria and Italy's northern Lombardy region were clear signs that they were avoiding Turkey, previously a popular destination.
"That the German vacation traffic clogs up so heavily in upper Italy … that's not what I have observed for a long time," Oesterle told the German news agency DPA on Sunday.
"Many of those who are now driving to Italy would have flown previously to Turkey," he said, referring to anxieties over recent terror attacks in Turkey and post-coup tensions.
Numerous road works were also causing delays across Europe, Oesterle added.
Germany registered hundreds of tailbacks, some more than 20 kilometers (13 miles) long, also along its popular North Sea and Baltic Sea coastlines, around Hamburg and north of Berlin, over the weekend.
Tunnel blocked on Austria's A9
Austria was coping late Sunday with traffic congestion on the outskirts of Vienna and Graz and one tunnel was blocked because of a vehicle fire on its key north-south A9 motorway alpine route leading to Slovenia.
Repair work inside the eight-kilometer-long Gleinalm Tunnel was not expected to be carried out until Monday.
Drivers also faced lengthy delays around Salzburg and into Bavaria in Germany.
Dramatic falloffs too in Greece
Austria's "Der Standard" newspaper said Greece's islands, which have seen significant arrivals of asylum seekers heading to Europe via the Balkans, faced a dramatic reduction in tourist numbers.
It cited the case of Lesbos, where summer-time café tables have been reported to be standing empty.
Tourism on Lesbos had dropped a dramatic 60 percent, "Der Standard" said. Greeks were absent because of their own economic crisis and weekly, incoming foreign charter flights had been reduced by two-thirds - from 35 to 12.
In contrast to last year's arrivals of migrants by boat, Greek authorities have managed to take refugees to initial assistance facilities well inland.
"For the tourists, from that point of time the refugees were no longer visible. However, the island had already lost its reputation," according to "Der Standard."
On Friday, Greece's minister in charge of migration, Ioannis Mouzalas, told Radio Vima that a start had been made in ferrying migrants stranded on the Aegean islands to the mainland. The move was to reduce pressure on overcrowded camps.
Since March, a fragile EU-Turkish deal has been in place, requiring new arrivals to be returned from the islands to Turkey, with the EU promising to accept those formally entitled to refugee status directly from Turkish camps.
ipj/jm (dpa, AFP)
Camping, from bourgeois to 'glamping'
Spas and golf courses - camping today is so much more than a tent and a sleeping bag. Sites and equipment are more and more outlandish - but also profitable, bringing in 11 billion euros last year in Germany alone.
This house boat is probably a good alternative for your average German summer. This floating caravan is called "Sealander." The multi-functional boat might not be suitable for the high seas, but it's good for pottering on lakes and rivers. The market for out of the ordinary camping and holidaying ideas is booming. What was once a cheap holiday sector has become a highly competitive business.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Endig
The luxury camper business
Camping used to cost 10 euros ($11) for a place to pitch your tent in the midst of untouched nature. It has now evolved into "glamping" - glamorous camping. It involves services like having breakfast rolls delivered or fully equipped camper vans with their own whirlpool. Viktoria Groß from the German Camping Club says those pitches can cost up to 80 euros a day, nearly as much as a hotel room.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.-P. Strobel
Cool camping cult
Germany does not come with a guarantee of good weather. According to official statistics, only eight percent of Germans claim to prefer a tent to a hotel for their summer holidays. The indoor option combines both - like the Hüttenpalast, or hut palace, in Berlin: it has 24-hour service and a sauna. An added advantage is that anyone wanting to camp in the city can leave their caravan at home.
Image: Huettenpalast/J. Brockhaus
A city in itself
The recreational park on the Grav island, down river from Wesel on the Rhine, claims to be the biggest family camping site in Germany. 9,000 campers on a summer's day populate the more than 2.1 million-square-meter site, which includes miles of beaches. According to federal statistics, there were 29 million overnight stays at campsites throughout Germany in 2015 - and the trend is growing.
Image: Imago/H. Blossey
Home is where the heart is
What's better - an allotment or long-term camping? German campsites offer many fixed plots for caravans. Many resemble a traditional German allotment. What was once regarded as bourgeois, says Viktoria Groß from the German Camping Club, is now hugely popular with families. Campsites have improved and some now even offer wave pools or horse riding.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Marks
Successful camping market
The desire for independence, being close to nature and self-determination is rather pronounced in many German holiday makers. And some feel quite a lot of special equipment is needed to fulfill this "return to nature." German campers invested some 8.2 billion euros ($9 billion) in equipment last year, according to the German tourism association.
Image: Colourbox
Something for when it's not a rainy day
Bad weather, constant rain or just cold temperatures - according to the German Camping Club, this explains why many campers decide to holiday at short notice. They can check the weather forecast online, and if favorable, quickly throw their things together and hit the road. Germany has many beautiful regions worth exploring without having a long drive there or back.