World Cup a 'turn off' for tourists
Monday, 05 Jun 2006 09:42
The 'beery' reputation of football fans is a turn-off for some tourists
Concerns over violent football fans are putting off some travellers from heading to Germany this summer.
While the World Cup is expected to attract more than one million football followers to Germany, their reputation appears to have turned off other tourists.
More than a third of travellers surveyed by TripAdvisor said they would not visit Germany during the World Cup because of fears about crowds, and rowdy violent fans.
By comparison, less than 10 per cent are worried about the threat of terrorist action during the World Cup.
Despite the feast of football taking place, for 41 per cent of travellers the biggest attraction of Germany continues to be its history and culture.
The German capital, Berlin, the Bavarian city of Munich and Cologne, which sits on Germany's most famous river – the Rhine – are the World Cup host cities that most people want to visit.
The more industrial cities of Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund, along with Kaiserslautern, are the least popular among travellers.
Of the 1,500 travellers surveyed, half have already visited Germany and another quarter intend to visit in the future.