energy
High fuel prices drive motorists across the border
The price board at a gas station on the German-Czech border shows the current prices for fuels in Czech crowns. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In some neighboring countries of Germany, fuel is currently significantly cheaper. This leads to increased fuel tourism.
The high fuel prices mean that more and more people are driving across the border to refuel. Tank tourism has been increasing significantly recently, the Central Association of the Petrol Station Industry (ZTG) said on Tuesday. And more and more customers are also taking on longer journeys.
The association speaks of a “gasoline price paradox”, because the differences at the limits actually remain relatively similar even with higher fuel prices. The rising oil price, which is currently making refueling more expensive, is noticeable on both sides of the border; the differences are usually mainly due to taxes and duties. According to the ZTG, the fact that more people are taking on the longer journeys is due to the fact that people are becoming more price-sensitive. This can also be observed domestically between cheap and expensive gas stations.
But tank tourism is not always worthwhile – also because the journey across the border is becoming more expensive due to the high fuel prices. In addition, one also has to consider other costs such as wear and tear, which quickly eat up the savings at the pump. “If a lot of people complain that they can’t get by with their employer’s 30-cent kilometer flat rate, then they are not allowed to go abroad to refuel at the same time,” says the ZTG. “Because then it never pays off.”
There are not significant price differences at all German borders. In addition, these can vary depending on the region, petrol station and time. According to data from the traffic clubs ADAC and AvD, fuel is clearly cheaper in Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Luxembourg. In contrast, fuel is significantly more expensive in the Netherlands than in Germany. However, according to the ZTG, there is currently no evidence of increasing fuel tourism from there.
In Bavaria, however, Florian Hördegen from ADAC Südbayern observed an increase in fuel tourism to Austria and the Czech Republic. The topic has gained momentum again since last week. Across the border you can sometimes see queues at the gas stations, he says.