Stereotype that Germans hog sun loungers by 'reserving' them with towels is only held in Germany and Britain

Key takeaways

  • Half of Germans (51%) and Britons (46%) associate Germans with using their towels to reserve sun loungers, but only 5-17% in other countries have this stereotype of Germans
  • 38% of German holidaymakers say they have ever used their towel to reserve a sun lounger, compared to 33% in Britain (the least likely) and 45% in France and Italy (the most likely)
  • Most people in all countries say reserving sun loungers with towels is unacceptable (60-82%)
  • Most holidaymakers in each country have found themselves unable to use sun loungers because they were all reserved (51-63%)
  • 14-28% of holidaymakers in each country say they have previously removed someone’s towel from a sun lounger

It is a truth supposedly universally acknowledged that a vacant poolside sun lounger will find itself “reserved” by a German tourist’s towel at an antisocial time in the morning.

However, a new YouGov survey of people in six European countries discovers not only that German tourists are less likely to wield their towels in this way than other nationalities, but that in many countries this stereotype is not held in the first place.

The trope of German holidaymakers is only common in Britain and Germany itself

When asked which country’s holidaymakers they most associate with the practice of reserving sun loungers with towels and then coming back later in the day, only in Germany and Britain does the German stereotype hold true. Approximately half of Germans (51%) and slightly fewer Britons (46%) say they most associate Germans with this practice, compared to 14-17% among Spaniards, Danes, and French people, and just 5% among Italians.

In fact, there is a self-blaming tendency in other countries, with the most common answer in Spain that it is Spaniards who do this (33%), and likewise 32% of Italians say the same of their fellow countrymen, alongside 22% of French people who see this as a Gallic phenomenon. While this is not the most common answer in Denmark, at 15% Danes are likewise more likely to think they do this than think so of most other nationalities.

British people are also blamed for using their towels to hog sun loungers by noticeable minorities in Denmark (20%, where this is the most common answer), Germany (20%), Spain (24%) and Britain itself (24%), although far fewer make this association in France (7%) and Italy (2%).

In fact, most people in Denmark, France and Italy (59-63%) don’t associate the practice of reserving sun loungers with towels with any nationality, alongside 41-43% saying the same in Germany, Britain and Spain.

German holidaymakers are not the most likely to reserve sun loungers with towels – that honour goes to the Italians and French

The results of our survey find that Germans are, in fact, not the nationality who admit to using towels to reserve sun loungers.

If we restrict our sample to only those who ever go on holiday to destinations that have pools and sun loungers, and who make use of such, then we see that 38% of such German holidaymakers admit to ever bagsy-ing a sun lounger via the medium of a laid towel, including only 9% who say they do so often.

Only British holidaymakers are less likely to say they do this, at 33%.

By contrast, Italians and French holidaymakers are the most likely to say they ever wield their towels to reserve sun loungers, at 45%, with 41% of Spaniards and 42% of Danes saying the same.

How many Europeans think it is acceptable to reserve sun loungers with towels?

Italians are noticeably more likely than other nations to say reserving sun loungers with towels is acceptable, with 30% saying so compared to 12-17% in all other countries surveyed.

Nevertheless, the majority in each country brand the practice unacceptable. In line with Italians and French people being the most likely to have reserved sun loungers with towels, they are less likely to deem the practice “completely unacceptable”, with 32% and 40% respectively saying so. In the other countries surveyed, this figure stands at 50-59%.

Most European holidaymakers have encountered people reserving sun loungers with towels

Among those who ever go to holiday destinations that feature a pool and sun loungers, and who make use of those facilities, a significant majority in each country (62-84%) say they have encountered towel-based sun lounger reservations.

In fact a majority (51-63%) have found unable to use sun loungers because they had all been reserved.

An assertive minority have even taken it upon themselves to remove towels from sun-loungers, with 14-28% saying so.

See the full results here

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Photo: Getty

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