Before Corona there was real tourism to the most beautiful markets in the country. And now? The majority of German citizens want to finally stroll there again.
Berlin – Looking forward to the big magic booth: 71 percent of German citizens “definitely” or “probably” want to go to a Christmas market this year (36 and 35 percent, respectively).
This was the result of a survey by the Yougov opinion research institute on behalf of the German Press Agency. The respondents disagree on the question of which corona rules are appropriate for Christmas markets.
One in ten (10 percent) says they go to the Christmas market four to five times per season. 38 percent stroll there two or three times, 29 percent have enough after a single excursion. And then there is the group of real fans: 6 percent say that they can be found at Christmas markets more than five times a season.
The atmosphere, the stands, the decorations, the lights, the scent: these are the things that Germans prefer by far at the Christmas markets. 74 percent particularly like “the atmosphere”. 62 percent name the “stands, decorations and lights”, 57 percent the pre-Christmas smell, such as pine needles, gingerbread, punch and mulled wine.
What many still like: the food at the markets (40 percent), the mulled wine (36 percent) and the sociability (32 percent). The range of goods is the least attractive; 20 percent of those surveyed particularly like it.
The number of people who avoid Christmas markets is small: only 4 percent of those surveyed know for sure that they do not want to visit a Christmas market this year. “Probably not” say 18 percent.
For most of them, the stroll between stalls and fir green is a family event: When asked: “Who do you most like to spend time with at the Christmas market?”, 58 percent answered “With family members and relatives”. One in three (31 percent) prefer to go with friends, 5 percent prefer to go alone. Company outings to Christmas markets are not particularly popular: 3 percent prefer to go with colleagues.
The Christmas market season starts particularly early in some places this year. The “Winterzauber Berlin” has been open since Friday. Elsewhere, it starts on November 15 or 16 instead of the usual one week later. The reason is that cities please their visitors and want to enable showmen to increase their sales after the long Corona break.
The 3G rule applies in many markets this time – that is, visitors have to prove that they have been vaccinated against Corona, are considered recovered or have tested negative.
However, German citizens are completely divided on the question of which corona rules are the right ones for Christmas markets: 27 percent vote for 3G, 22 percent would feel most comfortable with 2G, i.e. access only for vaccinated and convalescent people. 18 percent of those surveyed would be enough. “There should be no restrictions whatsoever for Christmas markets,” say 17 percent. 8 percent have the exact opposite opinion: “Christmas markets should be canceled this winter.”
What are the reasons for those who generally do not want to visit markets or this time tend to stay at home? “I have concerns about visiting a market because of the corona pandemic,” say 51 percent of this group. 25 percent of those surveyed said they were “generally not interested,” 22 percent were “too expensive”. dpa
