Recreational Opportunities And Personal Initiative : Germany

Regardless of whether people are interested in travel, excursions, culture, sports or entertainment, they can choose from a wide variety of high-quality options for structuring their leisure time: swimming pools and sports facilities of every kind, theaters, concert halls and cinemas, libraries and museums, restaurants and campgrounds. In addition to utilizing special recreational facilities, people derive great enjoyment from the countryside and, increasingly, from the transport infrastructure during the time they are “doing nothing”. Germany has a well-developed leisure industry which offers a broad range of goods and services.

The country’s recreational infrastructure is also maintained by associations, non-profit organizations and the public sector. Nearly five million people depend - at least partially - on the leisure industry for their livelihood. The wealth of recreational opportunities attracts visi tors, users, guests and buyers and is thus both a source of income for numerous providers as well as an indispensable foundation for the tourism industry. A key prerequisite for most recreational activities is a pleasant and intact environment; providers therefore find themselves obliged to meet ever-higher standards.

Each person has his or her own preferences when it comes to structuring leisure time. The most popular recreational activities are watching television, listening to music and reading. Although Germans continue to prefer to spend their leisure time at home, they also like to go out, take a drive in the car, or ride a motorcycle or a bike. They participate in sports activities, take hikes and work in the yard. Germany’s roughly 300,000 clubs and associations, which have about 63 million members, play a particularly important role in the structuring of leisure time. At least 12 million Germans spend their free time helping others through private and volunteer associations and organizations.The importance of leisure time for people’s lives is also the subject of research. The German Leisure Association compiles the results of this research and makes them available to interested parties.