An hour south of Berlin, Germany sits the Tropical Islands Resort (TIR), an endeavor to capitalize on and profit from the country’s global preeminence as the leading vacation time consumer; German’s average six weeks and garner one of the highest average incomes in the world. The fact that Germans travel as much or more than any other people in the world coupled with a chance to experience a tropical Southeast Asian atmosphere near home would seem to be a win-win.
However, the location of the resort, relatively distant from the bulk of Germany’s higher income population has caused yearly visitor totals to decline from a high point of 1.2 million to just 600,000 a year.
The Resort has a Tropical Village featuring replicas of traditional buildings from Thailand, Borneo, Samoa and Bali. There is a Rainforest with 50,000 plants including 600 species, some rare. Next there is a Tropical Sea with a coral reef theme, a 460 ft (140 m) pool with 47,000 square feet (4,400 sq. m) of space with 660 ft (200 m) of sandy beach, 850 sun loungers and 82F degree (28 degrees C). A Bali Lagoon has an area of 13,000 sq. ft. (1,200 sq. m) and a depth of 4 feet (1.5 meters) and finally, a 4,000 sq. m children’s pool and campsites were added with spaces for caravans and mobile homes.
