No More Cold War
February 7, 2008
Now, tourism insiders are warning that the arrival of Eastern European sun-seekers in western resorts could boost the body count in the beach-towel wars.
According to British travel web site Lastminute.com, Russians are the "new Germans" when it comes to bagging the best poolside or beachfront sunning spots at southern resorts.
But first, a little military history. Among Europeans, Germans are known -- and either despised or grudgingly admired -- for the advanced tactics they use to capture coveted territory. This includes such classics as the frühaufsteher badehandtuch manoeuvre, in which a German wakes up long before dawn and drapes a towel over a particularly coveted lounge chair, before returning to bed for a few hours.
But the Russians, drawing on a long and exalted military history of their own, are making swift inroads. According to Lastminute.com Managing Director John Bevan, the Russians are routing their opponents by employing highly dangerous secret weapons -- their wallets.
No more Cold War
The collapse of Communism in Russia had led to the growing Russian middle class spending oodles of nouveau-cash on holidays, Bevan said.
Their "brash" strategy of "flashing their new-found wealth and paying hotel staff to reserve them the best beds" makes them popular with the hard-working employees, he said. It also insures that they win at least a few battles, if not the war.
"The battle for Europe's sun beds will be more intense than ever this summer as the Russians establish themselves as the most prominent outbound tourism market in Europe," he told AFP news service.
If Germans want to reclaim their former, hard-earned fame, they will have to work out a new strategy for standing up against Russian insolence.
That's why the much trumpeted Euro 2008 soccer championship, which will be hosted by land-locked Switzerland and Austria in June, may in the end turn out to be a flop. The real war -- with water pistols, fluorescent tanga thongs and possible sun-baked nudity -- will be waged on European beaches.
May the better win.