One in five holidaymakers loves bathing in the crowd

Tourism has two faces: as a mass movement, it is increasingly criticised by the public, but as a mass tourism experience, it continues to fascinate people. What the marketplaces and fairgrounds were in earlier centuries, holiday centres all over the world have become today: Almost one in five holidaymakers (18 %) seek and find the "bath in the crowd" here. This is especially true for the younger generation: 28 per cent of those under 30 are attracted by seeing and being seen and 19 per cent feel "magically drawn" to crowds. These are the findings of a recent representative survey conducted by the BAT Leisure Research Institute, in which 2,483 people aged 18 and over in western and eastern Germany were asked how they personally react to crowds on holiday.

Overcrowded beaches, lakeshores and seashores do not only trigger negative reactions among holidaymakers. While the older generation mainly wants to avoid the crowds, young people deliberately seek out crowds of all kinds on holiday: 41 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 prefer mass tourism centres. Because "where there is a lot going on, you also experience a lot". For them, an intensive holiday experience includes a large crowd of like-minded people as much as possible, as well as the confined space or a flood of offers and events.

For Prof. Opaschowski, head of the BAT Leisure Research Institute, mass experiences take on a new meaning in the holiday-mobile society: freed from the shackles of everyday life, many holidaymakers strive towards just one goal. They want to experience themselves as actors, for which they need spectators. The crowd becomes the stage and the holiday landscape becomes the backdrop. Everyone wants to play "their" role in this production. And the other holidaymakers are needed as fellow players and audience. In such holiday situations, they enjoy being together with others, the confinement, the crowds and even the contact stress in the crowd. Some efforts can thus become proof of the quality of an intensive holiday experience.