Oct
8
Why does German Tourism bother advertising?
Filed Under Travel
Whenever I get a promotional mail from German Tourism, I can’t help feeling a little amused and irritated at the same time. On the one hand they are trying hard to attract tourists to their country, and on the other hand they are the most painful embassy in western Europe to get a visa from.
For one, they love to call you again and again - to submit papers, for interviews etc etc. And then expect you to have everything in order including air tickets, hotel bookings, insurance, itinerary etc. First question: Why do they need me to have an air ticket? Once I get a visa, won’t I buy one anyway? Or if I decide to swim all the way, does it matter to them? And then, why should I book a hotel? Surely they will not let me sleep on the streets there. Once I have paid for these, and my visa application is rejected, won’t it all be such a waste? And I may want to stay in hotels I cannot book in advance - like small ones and hostels who take in walk ins only? Only the more expensive hotels have online bookings. Even when the smaller ones do, I would rather see the state they are in before booking it. Credit to USA and UK who do not ask for these.
And to make matters worse, when I give an itinerary for, say, 7 days, they actually give me a visa for 8 days. Can you believe it? What if I want to extend my trip? Or if there is an emergency? What if I am going without a plan - just explore the country like German backpackers do when they visit India? Credit to countries like France who usually give it for a few months at a time.
Unless I am really keen, or have business reasons to, I would skip Germany when travelling to western Europe. Or apply for a Schengen visa through another country? The loss to German tourism? I will have to make a stop in the other country, taking a few days off Germany. And I may end up flying the national carrier of the other country, Lufthansa being the loser. Or I may change my mind and not go to Germany at all.
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One Response to “Why does German Tourism bother advertising?”
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Dear Ajay,
First of all I would like to say that the article is completely trustworthy and also due to the fact that I got the chance to experience this German “hospitality” at its best and in all the aspects.
So I would like to share…I dont know what possessed me to choose German as my second university language, still can’t understand, but it happened. And of course when it was my 2nd year in university I finally decided to go to the ”dream-land”…But I was “a little” surprised when got to know the number of the docs essential for visa application, but what to do? So I booked a hotel (not a very expensive one, about 40 Euro per night), took university papers (that time I did not work), purchased air tickets, printed out credit card information, took confirmation from my dad’s job that he got enough money to send me abroad and went..here I should mention that I had to wait for 1 month (!!!) just to apply for visa, but finally I entered the German Embassy at 20.00 hrs…My first impression - medievel fortress, dark, gloomy and too much unfriendly (I saw a number of Embassies in my life and also myself do work in one of them, but the German Embassy will always remain my night-mare…). Well, from the very starating they didnt like the hotel confirmation of my booking, we disputed for about 10 minutes, they got satisfied..then emerged some problems with credit card, but also in the result I succeeded in conviencing them that it’s OK. But when that man saw that my dad was giving me money and myself I didnt do any work, then he got crazy. Firstly, he said that he didn’t know the name of organisation where my dad did work that time, so he couldn’t accept, what a kind of rubbish? then he asked for confirmation if my dad gave me money on his own free will, how could I take it from him by applying force? But when finally he said that he needed confirmation of the fact that my dad was MY DAD. I burst into tears. After that the same German shared with me the real reason of all this…His parents took him out off the house at the age of 14 and since then he had to survive himself, so why I could use the money and help of my dad? That time I stared at him with round eyes and finally took all the docs back and said only one phrase…”I feel sorry for you, cause you need psyhological help”…
Of course i went to Germany after graduating from the university…I don’t know why, but now I don’t like this country and even the language. Maybe to the fact whatever heppened with me that time. Anyway, this was my experience. And I don’t regret that I had it in my life. The lesson was very good.
Sincerely Yours,
Catherine