Journo gets freebie to beach, makes up story

The BBC News website has a rather baffling story penned by Berlin correspondent Steven Rosenberg. “Germans stay home for eco-holiday” it declares. But don’t hold your breath because there isn’t much substance behind the headline. In fact the whole thing has the whiff of a PR job arranged by the tourist board.

Rosenberg describes how the Beeb dispatched him to the lovely Baltic beaches of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen (or Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania as the long-winded translation goes).

“There I am: polo shirt, shorts and sunglasses, lying on a white sandy beach, the sea gently lapping at my toes, the strains of Latino music dancing their way through the air, and the sun beating down through a cloudless sky.”

Aaah spring, the new summer. And all thanks to global warming. It gets even better.

“The smell of sausages and mustard wafts over from a beach cafe...Giggling by the sea - and lying topless in the sun - are Martina and her three environmentally friendly colleagues.”

Blimey, sausages and topless beach babes. What more could a BBC reporter want? An angle for a story, perhaps?

How exactly do you justify sitting on a beach chatting up the lovely Martina and her tree-hugging mates? Nowadays, you go for the green angle. Yes, the trusty old environment. Used and abused for centuries by man, and now used and abused by hacks searching desperately for a story.

Rosenberg’s spurious line is that many Germans are shunning foreign travel to save the environment. They want to: “Cut down their carbon emissions, to do their bit in the fight against global warming.”

Good for them! What facts does he present to back this up? Errrrrrr, absolutely none. Instead, a bloke from the local tourist board tells us that, “Climate change is an issue.” Which sounds suspiciously like an answer to the question: “Is climate change an issue?” The tourism Futzi continues:

"If you choose to spend your holiday on the Baltic Sea, then many people say they do that because of climate change. They don't want to pollute the environment by taking a plane."

But it's ok to drive a big gas-guzzling Merc half the way across Germany to get to the beach is it? Note also the phrase: “Many people say they do.” Normally, this would be the point where a journalist should ask, “Do you have any figures to back that up?” Is that not the reason we have journalists? To find out if people actually do what PR agencies and tourist boards say they do but maybe actually don’t?

No, instead of fact we get anecdotal evidence from random people on the beach. You can almost see Rosenberg trawling the beach like the “Cola! Fanta! Melon!” peddlers in Spain shouting out, “Does anyone have a soundbite about saving the environment?” His wish is granted when a Waltraud steps forward to make the ludicrous comparison the BBC man is digging for:

“I get a Maldive feeling here because beaches on the Maldives are the same: long white sand and a lot of sun. So normally it's not necessary to go to the Maldives, you can take your holiday here in Germany!"

Yeah Waltraud, and they don't have all that funny food do they? And you can drink the water from the tap without getting the runs. And they don't speak 'foreign.' And they're not all thieving Eyetie...wooah wooah steady on!

Back to the lovely pouting Martina, who, “once she'd put her bikini back on,” reveals herself as a bit of a space cadet. “The traffic in the air is too much and it's not good for us." Chew on that for a moment. The traffic in the air. There are too many flying cars or what?

Rosenberg’s cooked-up story caught my eye mainly because there have been several reports recently to suggest the contrary: that Germans are actually planning to take MORE holidays this year – both at home and abroad.

In March, a survey by the German travel industry association (ITB) found that as a result of the economic upturn, three percent more Germans are planning to go away in 2007 than in 2006. And that data was collated back in January. Since then there has been bucketloads more positive economic data. So there’s good reason to believe the actual increase will be much higher.

But for argument’s sake, let’s work on the three-percent assumption. Last year, 48.6 million Germans went away on holiday. A three-percent rise would mean almost 1.5 million more in 2007. I’m no expert, but unless they all go by bike, that’s not going to do the environment a whole load of good. Whether they fly to Majorca or make a 500-mile round trip in the Merc is more or less schnurzegal – the environment loses either way.

It’s downright misleading of the BBC to suggest that there is some sort of mass movement among the German populace to holiday at home because they want to save the planet. Sure, there will be an increase in people holidaying in Germany this year. But will it be because they want to do the environment a favour? For some, possibly, for most, probably not. But don’t expect to get the real answer from the BBC.