Visiting elephants at the zoo, eating lemon ice cream in a waffle or watching the new blockbuster at the cinema: How much can leisure activities cost for Germans? A ten-year comparison.
According to a survey, Germans are prepared to pay more for some leisure activities – despite prices having already risen due to inflation. This is the result of a publication by the Hamburg-based BAT Foundation for Future Issues. A ten-year comparison shows that some prices stated as reasonable are higher than the value resulting from inflation.
For example, while ten years ago people were only willing to pay an average of 23.70 euros for a restaurant visit, in 2024 they considered an amount of 31.70 euros to be appropriate – almost 34 percent more. That is about ten percentage points more than the general price increases between 2014 and 2024, according to the foundation’s estimates.
For the representative survey, the Society for Consumer Research (GfK) asked 2,000 women and men aged 18 and over the question “How much should something cost in your free time?” online in both 2014 and 2024.
Why some activities can become more expensive – and others not
Germans are least willing to pay a higher price for a visit to a water park. According to the foundation, the increase in prices considered appropriate from 2014 to 2024 was only seven percent. The pools had to be moderate in their price increases because they were competing with other leisure facilities such as fitness studios or amusement parks, it said.
The Germans accepted the largest price increase compared to 2014 for the collection after the service, it was said. They would pay almost 50 percent more. While 2.10 euros was considered appropriate in 2014, it is currently 3.10 euros.
The collection is followed by admission to theme parks at prices deemed appropriate. German citizens are prepared to spend almost 40 percent more money here than they did ten years ago. The foundation sees several reasons for this – among them the fact that visitors often see a visit to the park as a special event. They are prepared to pay more money for this. Since theme parks are constantly investing in new attractions to attract visitors, these costs must be covered by higher admission prices.
The reason for a higher willingness to pay
According to the BAT Foundation, the population perceives what they are used to and what they often encounter as appropriate and normal. The foundation cited the behavior of people in France as an example: people there do not complain about high food prices because they are normal there, it said.
Source: Stern
