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Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

Living in Germany: hiking as a national pastime

Hiking, or Wandern in German, is the most popular outdoor activity in the country, with 68 percent of Germans every year hitting an extensive 200,000-kilometer (125,000-mile) trail network. In all, Germans hike 370 million times per year, spend €7.8 billion ($9.3 billion) every year for hiking trips (plus another €3.7 billion on gear), and 58 percent of that on gastronomy […]

Hiking, or “Wandern” in German, is the most popular outdoor activity in the country, with 68 percent of Germans every year hitting an extensive 200,000-kilometer (125,000-mile) trail network. Furthermore, Germans hike 370 million times per year.

Annually on May 14 (marking the German Hiking Association’s (DWV) foundation on May 14, 1883), Germany hosts hundreds of activities around the sport, including trail maintenance and nature conservation.

Hiking Economics

Germans spend €7.8 billion every year on hiking trips (58% of that on gastronomy), plus €3.7 billion on gear.

Germans are avid hikers, combining it with history, culture, ecology, food and drink. Let’s take a look at a pastime nearly two-thirds of Germans regularly enjoy

In addition to being a social activity that is good for health, the sport “is an economic driver of tourism,” said Erik Neumeyer, a representative from DWV.

Hiking in the Ahrtal (DW/Chase Winter)
Hiking in the Ahrtal (DW/Chase Winter)

Developing a Hiking Infrastructure

Hiking in Germany has a long tradition dating back to the journeymen and religious pilgrims of the Middle Ages — in a way early tourists and travellers.

But it wasn’t until Romanticist authors and painters began to popularize nature and the outdoors, turning from danger into adventure.

By the second half of the 19th century, early infrastructure building began. “Trails are one of the first tourist infrastructures ever. At the time, the goal was to develop nature for the population,” said Neumeyer.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the first associations and youth movements helped build infrastructure. Since world’s first youth hostel was established in Germany in 1912, as a result the number quickly skyrocketed.

Alongside developing tourism, associations such as DWV also focus on creating awareness around nature conservation.

Source: Wandering as a national pastime | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 15.05.2018

By Itamar Medeiros

Originally from Brazil, Itamar Medeiros currently lives in Germany, where he works as VP of Design Strategy at SAP and lecturer of Project Management for UX at the M.Sc. Usability Engineering at the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences .

Working in the Information Technology industry since 1998, Itamar has helped truly global companies in multiple continents create great user experience through advocating Design and Innovation principles. During his 7 years in China, he promoted the User Experience Design discipline as User Experience Manager at Autodesk and Local Coordinator of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) in Shanghai.

Itamar holds a MA in Design Practice from Northumbria University (Newcastle, UK), for which he received a Distinction Award for his thesis Creating Innovative Design Software Solutions within Collaborative/Distributed Design Environments.

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