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Recently I have been to Capo Vaticano, Calabria, southern Italy. It didn't take long to notice that, besides Italians, Germans were by far the majority of the people I saw. This was even reflected by restaurant menus and traffic signs: German was consistently the second language in which they were written, English was the third one.

A tourist guide told me about some advantageous holiday package for Germans in Tropea, but even if she is right (I couldn't find such thing, and I'm not sure this package would predate the traffic signs), why only Germans? Could this be just because Germany is the strongest member of the EU, economically? I would have thought of some town twinning, but I can't find anything about this on the internet, besides reasons that in principle should work for French too (prices, climate, campsites, possibility to drive there with a camping van).

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    It's August, there's a majority of German tourists at Beachy Head, and at Stonehenge, and at etc etc. Likely so in Midtown Manhattan too. The German Federal Bank is closed for the whole month and it has a rippling effect.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 14:07
  • @GayotFow: I don't think that every place you mention has German as a second language in restaurants and stuff. Or at least, usually in Italy the second language is English. I guess it might be different in sea locations.
    – Vincenzo Oliva
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 16:33
  • The availability of German menus, German-speaking hotel staff, etc doesn't figure highly on their selection of holiday locales. If anything it works to the reverse. But note also that Turkey's political situation is seeing a big time drop in German holidaymakers.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 17:12
  • @GayotFow: Anyway, I know it works to the reverse, that's precisely why I asked the question.
    – Vincenzo Oliva
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 17:16

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Germans are very common in Italy during the summer. Garda Lake and more in general beaches from north to south are filled with them.

Italy for germans is:

  • near
  • cheaper
  • hotter

than their home country ;)

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  • I see. Is the linguistic situation I describe, also not rare? (that is, restaurant menus and traffic signs with German as second language)
    – Vincenzo Oliva
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 14:15
  • That only happens in Alto Adige, where german is the official second language.
    – napolux
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 15:26
  • Then, this thing in Capo Vaticano and Tropea is strange.
    – Vincenzo Oliva
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 15:30

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