Soccer fever, concert cheers and vacation trips: The impact of major events on current vacation travel planning

A current nationwide representative survey by German Institute for Tourism Research (DI Tourismusforschung) examines the influence of major events on the vacation travel plans of the population living in Germany in 2024. The results show that major events play a role in the vacation plans of many people this year in various ways. “Major events such as the European Football Championships in Germany, the Olympic Games in Paris and Taylor Swift’s tour through several European countries were on everyone’s lips this year. They can serve as a reason to travel and thus strengthen tourism in the event destination,” says Lisa Naschert, project manager of the study.

Initial analysis results can already be accessed here. These show that more than a third of all respondents attend several major events per year and a further third attend major events irregularly (not annually). In contrast, the remaining respondents never attend major events. The reasons for attending an event vary, as do the reasons for avoiding it. For event visitors, these are in particular the atmosphere, the break from everyday life and the time spent together with friends and/or family. Event avoiders are particularly put off from attending a major event by the large crowds, the costs involved and the high volume.

The European Football Championship 2024, the Rock am Ring and Wacken Open Air festivals and Taylor Swift and Adele concerts are the most popular events. “The summer of 2024 is characterized by a large number of major sporting and music events. Our study shows that these major events influence the vacation plans of many people – and in very different ways,” explains Anne Köchling, (Vice) Director of DI Tourismusforschung. Overall, more than half of the holidaymakers surveyed stated that major events had influenced their vacation travel plans in one way or another. The most common response in this context was that at least one event visit was combined with a vacation trip. One in ten holidaymakers was inspired to try out a new vacation destination after attending an event. On the other hand, the avoidance of major events in the destination was also taken into account in the planning. Further analyses and the full results will be published shortly.

Further information on the project can be found here.

Representative online survey of the German resident population aged between 18 and 74, n=976. The field work was carried out by mindline energy GmbH.