Travel interest to Germany up 24% following World Cup victory

Travel interest in Germany increased by 24% the day after their national team won the 2014 World Cup, compared with the previous week, according to hotel search website Trivago. 

Interest in travelling to Berlin, where the homecoming celebrations took place, for the six weeks after the victory rose 35%.

However, when the search period was extended to the week following the final (July 14-20) and this was compared to the preceding week (July 7-13), searches to Germany only increased by 8% and Berlin by 4%.

Only two countries showed a larger increase in searches on Monday July 14, Ireland (49% increase to Germany and 65% to Berlin) and Italy (34% increase to Germany and 37% to Berlin). These figures had dropped significantly by the 20th July.

Some countries showed a decrease in travel interest to Germany following the final, suggesting visitors wanted to avoid the country while the celebrations were ongoing. These include Finland (down 41% on Monday 14th July), Norway (down 29%) and Belgium (down 22%).

Although there was an increase in searches from the UK to Germany, it was not the country with the greatest travel interest. In the week leading up to the final (July 7-13) the majority of searches to Germany came from Denmark (26% of all searches), followed by Switzerland (15%), The Netherlands (15%) and Austria (11%).

Denise Bartlett, UK public relations, Trivago said: “Although there was an initial increase in UK travel interest to Germany, this had almost returned to normal one week after the final. This shows that it is unlikely Germany’s World Cup victory will have a lasting effect on tourism to the country.

“It is more likely people were initially attracted to the country due to the significant media coverage following the World Cup final, which portrayed a happy and celebratory country.”