DENMARK AND GERMANY (5)

Denmark's rather tricky relationship with Germany involves (from the Danish side) selling its bigger neighbour a lot of pigs and other goods, and enticing the Germans to come here on holiday. However, while the porcine part of the arrangement seems to be going well, the latter seems to be in a gentle decline. The number of nights spent by Germans in Danish summer houses has fallen from a high of 11.7 million in 2000 to 10.7 million in 2007 and a low of 9.7 million in 2009; though it rose a bit to 10.4 million in 2012. The slack has been taken up by Danes themselves, who are increasingly choosing to stay at home for their holidays. The number of nights spent by Danes has risen from 1.9 million in 2000 to 3.8 million in 2012.

There could well be sensible reasons for both trends. Why go on holiday in Denmark if it's expensive and doesn't guarantee any sun (unlike, say, Thailand)? And why go on holiday abroad if times are hard, and there's not lots of spare cash?

Some years ago, Danes were terrified that Germany wanted to buy up most of the country, and turn it into a holiday resort. That fear looks increasingly exaggerated.

Walter Blotscher