Week 37: Asylum Lawsuits, Voice AI Agents and Mallorca

00:00:01: Hello and welcome to plus-forty-nine.

00:00:07: I'm your host, Malina Bacham, and I'm delighted you're joining us, whether from Berlin, Hannover or anywhere beyond.

00:00:14: In this episode, we will take a look at what's been making headlines in Germany.

00:00:19: First, asylum lawsuits

00:00:21: are flooding the

00:00:22: courts, with over seventy-six thousand new cases filed in just the first half of twenty-five.

00:00:29: This surge is due to faster processing by the Federal Office for Migration, but it's putting a strain on court resources, leading to longer wait times.

00:00:39: Meanwhile, asylum applications overall are falling, thanks to tighter border controls and Germany is no longer the top European destination for asylum seekers.

00:00:50: And looking ahead, demographic trends show that by two thousand thirty-nine nearly a third of Germany's working population will be of retirement age, which will challenge social systems as fewer young people follow the baby boom generation.

00:01:06: In culture this week, we celebrate the German apple harvest.

00:01:09: Popular local festivals from the Bonzi region to towns across the country mark the season with tastings, orchard tours and traditional dishes.

00:01:18: Our interview guest is Kevin Wu, the CEO of

00:01:22: Leaping AI,

00:01:23: whose company is transforming call centers with voice AI agents.

00:01:28: We'll explore how AI can ease repetitive work, his take on AI taking over jobs, and comparable lens text scene to the US.

00:01:37: Plus, in our Ask a German segment, why do Germans love Mallorca for a holiday?

00:01:42: So, let's not waste any time and get right to it.

00:01:56: Welcome to this week's news for Germany's international community.

00:02:00: First up, spike in asylum lawsuits overwhelms courts.

00:02:05: Germany's administrative courts are receiving a search of asylum complaints.

00:02:10: According to the German Association of Judges, over seventy-six thousand new asylum cases were filed in the first half of two thousand twenty-five, more than the entire previous year.

00:02:22: The workload is training code resources and cases are taking longer to process, with wait times ranging from six months in Rheinland-Pfalz to up to ninety months in Hessen.

00:02:34: Notably, this rise isn't due to more asylum rejections, but to swift the procedures by the Federal Office for Migration, which is handling applications faster.

00:02:44: However, despite more lawsuits, overall asylum applications are dropping.

00:02:49: Tidewater controls have led to fewer new arrivals.

00:02:53: For the first time in many years, Germany is no longer the main country of arrival for asylum seekers in Europe.

00:03:01: France and Spain have overtaken Germany, with seventy thousand applicants here, compared to nearly eighty thousand in each of those countries.

00:03:09: The AUY drop is linked to historic changes, like the fall of Syria's Assad regime.

00:03:15: Venezuela and Afghanistan now top the list of source countries.

00:03:20: Further, Chancellor Merz continues to stress the need for thorough security checks before admitting Afghans promised refugee in Germany.

00:03:29: Around two hundred at-risk Afghans are waiting in dangerous conditions after being moved from Pakistan back to Taliban-run Afghanistan.

00:03:38: Some have managed to reach Germany

00:03:40: through

00:03:41: successful legal challenges.

00:03:43: And last, a glance at demographics.

00:03:45: By two thousand thirty nine, nearly one third of Germany's working age population will reach retirement age.

00:03:52: The country faces challenges financing its social system as fewer young workers follow the baby boom generation.

00:04:00: That is it for your news roundup for this week.

00:04:03: Stay tuned for some more insights into the German culture.

00:04:14: September marks not only the beginning of autumn, but also of apple season across Germany.

00:04:20: As summer gives way to early autumn, orchids from north to south burst into activity and apples finally reach their peak.

00:04:29: Crisp, colorful and full of flavor.

00:04:32: The fruit isn't just a staple.

00:04:34: It's a symbol of German harvest, real life and seasonal celebration.

00:04:39: One of the most vibrant examples is the Apfelwochen at Lake Constance, the Bodensee.

00:04:46: running from mid-September to early October.

00:04:48: This region, home to one of Germany's largest apple growing areas, produces some two hundred fifty thousand tons of apples each year.

00:04:57: During Apfelwochen, over two dozen tons join in.

00:05:01: Visitors and locals alike, I invited two orchid tourists, tastings, workshops, and tracked the rice through the apple-laden countryside.

00:05:10: Apple farmers opened their doors to show off their craft, and chefs in local restaurants get creative.

00:05:16: Serving up everything from classic Apfelstrudel to unexpected dishes like

00:05:21: salmon with

00:05:21: apple, vignaret or apple-moss-braised roasts.

00:05:25: The Bodensee apples range from tart to sweet, with popular varieties like Elster and Jonah Gold shining in every bite.

00:05:33: Outside Bodensee, apple festivals pop out throughout

00:05:37: Germany.

00:05:38: In Messingen, also in Baden-Württemberg, Apple Week is a local favorite featuring fresh apple juice, apple cakes and traditional apple mousse for pancakes.

00:05:48: Berlin celebrates the humble fruit at Castle Brits Historic Apple Fest with music, crafts and a chance to sample rare varieties.

00:05:58: In the Eiffel region, at the Boilendorfer Apple Fest, architourist parades and the crowning of an apple cream, no wonder there, bring families together to honor the apple harvest.

00:06:10: Apple picking itself is a cherished tradition.

00:06:13: Families head out to orchards to fill baskets with their favorite apples and kids learn firsthand how fruit is grown, picked and enjoyed.

00:06:22: By participating, experts and newcomers get a taste of local culture.

00:06:27: Literally, beyond picking, apple stands and farm shops brim with juice, ciders, preserves and beautiful heirloom apple varieties that rarely appear in supermarkets.

00:06:39: So, whether at Bodensees Apfelwochen, a countryside fest or just gathering apples in a local orchard.

00:06:46: The German apple season turns ordinary weekends into wholesome adventures, delicious discoveries and a true celebration of harvest time.

00:07:03: This is our interview part of the week.

00:07:06: My favorite part, by the way, and today joining us is

00:07:09: Kevin, the

00:07:10: CEO of Lieping AI.

00:07:13: And yeah, welcome Kevin.

00:07:15: Thank you so much for having me.

00:07:17: So as I said, you're the CEO of Leaping AI.

00:07:20: And as I'm not a tech

00:07:21: person

00:07:22: myself, I think it would be best if you introduce yourself a little bit and your project, what it is and what we can imagine under it.

00:07:30: So yeah, I'm the CEO of Leaping AI.

00:07:32: At Leaping AI, we make digital workers for call centers.

00:07:36: meaning AI agents that are able to take calls for a call center and answer repetitive customer service requests, schedule appointments for your business, or essentially qualify leads if your business does that.

00:07:51: So right now we work with mid-sized and also large-scale companies to essentially automate their call center with our digital workers.

00:08:01: Okay, that sounds really interesting and I think it kind of adds a

00:08:05: whole

00:08:06: new layer to this whole AI topic with not only being able to text with it, but also talk to it really.

00:08:12: And I mean we see a lot of companies right now adding this chatbot

00:08:16: function to

00:08:17: their website and platforms.

00:08:19: So how is your product enabling a whole new level or a new angle

00:08:23: to that?

00:08:24: Yeah, I would say the chatbot part has always been around, but essentially the voicebot component is something new because the technologies that enable that to happen like a really human-like voice or to accurately understand what the customer is saying over the phone are technologies that have been only getting really good the past two years.

00:08:49: So I would say we are at a point where the technologies just have improved a lot to where if humans or your customers actually call your call center and speak to such a voice agent or such a digital worker, they actually sometimes even get the impression that they're still talking to a human.

00:09:04: So how can I imagine this thing working?

00:09:07: So I call a call center and then AI is talking to me like what can I expect?

00:09:12: Yes, exactly.

00:09:13: So imagine that you're calling a call center.

00:09:16: Instead of a human picking up the phone, it would be AI, an AI voice agent picking up the phone, talking to you like your human call center employee would.

00:09:27: But there are, I would say, several advantages.

00:09:30: So first, the first advantage is that these digital workers cost less than a human worker because AI.

00:09:38: Second, if you add the digital workers to your call center team, you essentially have unlimited scalability, right?

00:09:45: They work at twenty four seven.

00:09:47: There is no limit to the number of calls they can do.

00:09:49: They work on the weekends.

00:09:51: And also if you have customers in multiple languages, you're able to serve them in different languages with technology.

00:09:59: I think the twenty-four-seven part is a good point because I think we've all been there that we wanted to speak to our Versicherungen or something like that and they're just not reachable and you're in the Warteschleife or put on hold for a really long time.

00:10:14: So yeah, I think your product can act a great new layer to that.

00:10:18: Yeah, yes, definitely.

00:10:19: So for example, we are working with a couple of travel companies, right?

00:10:24: One of our customers.

00:10:25: So in general, our segments are our home services.

00:10:28: travel, retail, but also insurance.

00:10:30: And so for a global travel experience booking site, we're actually automating fifty percent of all the booking related phone calls with no human involvement, meaning the AI helps people to reschedule their trip, to cancel their trip, to file some claims, whatever, to ask about the status of a refund.

00:10:50: That all

00:10:50: sounds really interesting and really practical, so I think we're definitely gonna talk a little bit more about that after this short music break.

00:11:06: Okay, so we just heard a little bit from Kevin about what leaping AI basically is and what it does and how it can help us.

00:11:14: But now I want to know, how did you think of this?

00:11:16: Like, how did you came up with this?

00:11:18: Was there one specific moment that made you think, okay, the call center industry needs to be improved or was it like a longer process?

00:11:26: Have you always been interested in it?

00:11:28: What was like the idea process?

00:11:30: So I studied computer science, so I'm coming from the technical side, and afterwards I worked at the Boston Consulting Group as a consultant in Berlin.

00:11:41: So I actually lived in Berlin for five years.

00:11:44: I think the game changer to me was when I was actually living in Colombia, South America for seven months, to learn Spanish, and everyone I met there worked at a call center, but really didn't like working at a call center because it's something very repetitive.

00:11:57: And it's also something that does not pay that much to be honest.

00:12:01: So they would all rather do some other things.

00:12:03: And so that inspired me to kind of look into this industry and see if there is some potential for automation.

00:12:10: If we're talking about automation, I think there's always a point that is also always a topic when talking about AI and that is the fear of AI taking over the jobs.

00:12:20: So how would you talk about those concerns?

00:12:23: How do you solve them basically?

00:12:25: Yeah.

00:12:26: So essentially, I see it from two perspectives.

00:12:28: The first one is that AI is not good enough yet to handle all calls, right?

00:12:32: So sometimes the customer actually realizes it's AI and they want to speak to a human.

00:12:37: So the human should always be available.

00:12:40: kind of like what want to be is additional team members in your call center team that already exists to handle things like out of office to handle things like on the weekends to handle spikes right to do repetitive requests so that the humans can focus on more value adding activities.

00:12:56: it may be harder requests right.

00:12:58: so I think that essentially we don't see replacing humans because also technology is not good enough yet.

00:13:03: the underlying what we call LLM or large language models, AI technologies, right?

00:13:08: Like, like, like, you know, from chat to BT, they're not good enough yet.

00:13:12: Sometimes they don't follow instructions a hundred percent perfectly.

00:13:16: So essentially we, we see AI as an enabler for the really repetitive stuff and working side by side with, with your current team.

00:13:26: Yeah, I definitely agree on that.

00:13:28: And I think there are many benefits as you also already mentioned.

00:13:32: So yeah, I think there's definitely a lot of potential.

00:13:43: So

00:13:43: we've been talking

00:13:44: a lot about your project and leaping AI and everything.

00:13:47: But now I want to know a little bit more about the person behind it.

00:13:51: And we've already established that you speak German.

00:13:54: So maybe you can you can clear us up or tell us how you speak German and what is your connection to Germany.

00:14:03: So I was born in Canada and I moved to Germany when I was three years old.

00:14:07: So I actually grew up in Germany.

00:14:09: I went to school in Frankfurt.

00:14:11: I studied in Munich.

00:14:13: computer science.

00:14:14: And then I decided that I want to live in Berlin for five years.

00:14:17: So between twenty twenty and twenty twenty five, I was actually living in Berlin.

00:14:22: And now I split my time between Berlin and San Francisco here in the United States.

00:14:27: okay really interesting because I'm actually I'm from Baden-Württemberg but I'm also in Bavaria now studying there.

00:14:34: so yeah it's really nice to hear that there's not only Berlin to Germany but there are also other places and Munich is not only Oktoberfest even though it's coming up now.

00:14:45: but yeah and how has it been?

00:14:48: I mean you grew up here since you were three but how has it been as an expert still in Germany.

00:14:54: So I would say I have very fond memories of my time in Germany.

00:15:01: What sometimes I feel like differentiates the US from Germany, especially for entrepreneurs, is like the ambitious mindset.

00:15:10: So Germany is an economy that is very, very rich.

00:15:14: But unfortunately, for many different reasons, has not been growing that much at zero percent.

00:15:21: And so I feel like it lacks a little bit the growth mindset that you have in the US, where you have people from all over the world trying to build their own business.

00:15:30: And that is very refreshing.

00:15:32: So there are definitely many successful, what we call startups or new companies in Germany, right?

00:15:37: But to give myself the best chance for success, I feel like I had to move to the US to be able to find that.

00:15:44: Yeah, I can definitely see that.

00:15:45: I mean, Berlin is more and more gaining this image as like the tech city of Germany, but I also think it's still miles away from what the US has to offer.

00:15:55: And I mean, we also see it right now with the current economy and the tax war going on.

00:16:00: It's just a lot happening right now.

00:16:04: So we have talked a little bit about your life in Germany but also this is related to the whole call-centered thing is that there is a stereotype about German customer service not being the friendliest and we've actually had this on the show.

00:16:18: before that someone asked

00:16:20: why they are so rude

00:16:21: and yeah I just want to know did you have any experiences with that or did you have that in mind when you came up with your idea?

00:16:29: So definitely, right?

00:16:30: So one of the things that the digital workers are good at is essentially maintaining a standard baseline of instruction following and I would say tone.

00:16:38: So there definitely should not be rudeness, right?

00:16:41: And you can tell the digital worker to not be rude.

00:16:44: I would say that there are many customer service workers who are very excellent, who actually love their job, right?

00:16:50: This is definitely my impression.

00:16:51: And we would want to train the digital worker to be more like them, right?

00:16:55: So what we're, for example, able to do is we could actually clone the voice and the type of speech of let's say your best performing call center agent and train and fine-tune the digital worker to behave like them, to talk like them, to essentially follow instructions like them.

00:17:13: And do you

00:17:15: build your AI assistant different depending on where it's located?

00:17:19: basically

00:17:20: because you also are located in San Francisco and the US customer service is usually quite different than the German one.

00:17:26: So do you also have that in mind?

00:17:28: and yeah do something about this?

00:17:30: So there are slight differences, I would say not to how the agent would talk, but to certain parts of the call.

00:17:37: So for example, in Germany, so basically for our German customers, we have the ability to host all the data in Europe, right?

00:17:43: So no data leaves Europe, but you have to follow strict data regulation laws.

00:17:47: So at the beginning of every conversation.

00:17:50: you have to explicitly ask the customer whether the conversation can be recorded or not, right?

00:17:56: And so this is not something we would ask in the US because I don't think anybody cares.

00:18:00: But in Germany, we definitely ask that, right?

00:18:03: And this is like, to be honest, slightly annoying, twenty seconds, thirty seconds at the beginning of every conversation, but we really have to do it for our clients.

00:18:10: Yeah, I think this whole Darten-Schutz thing is something that Germany is still... very far behind with other countries and this whole digital thing is not their strong suit.

00:18:21: let's be honest.

00:18:22: but yeah I hope we can see some improvement in the future in this area and maybe products like yours can help with that.

00:18:30: maybe we can go a little bit back on what you said about Germany and the US for building a tech or a startup company because you mentioned US has a few more benefits.

00:18:42: but do you also see something that Berlin or Germany in general

00:18:46: would have

00:18:47: to offer?

00:18:48: because we've heard that yes bureaucracy can be annoying here but sometimes it's just nice to know that everything is cleared and that you have something a regulation for everything and if you do that it is safe.

00:19:03: so yeah do you see any benefits?

00:19:06: So I think there would be two things that would have helped us a lot more.

00:19:11: So the first thing is just the availability of more early stage capital.

00:19:16: So investors who are ready to fund innovation, even though it's unproven.

00:19:20: And the way I like to compare it is that in Germany, you need to show initial proof.

00:19:26: that your idea is good, that you have the market, that you have the product.

00:19:30: And it totally makes sense.

00:19:32: So if I'm an investor, I definitely would want to know that, hey, they've already built something and I can trust them and their ability to build something and execute.

00:19:41: But in the US, it's way different.

00:19:43: Sometimes they just invest based on the team.

00:19:45: And the reason is that because there are so many more people with money who are willing to invest in early stage startups, and statistics show, that in any case, the success rate of US startups is definitely way higher or not lower than than the ones in Germany.

00:20:01: And also for this to work, like you have to invest in many companies and only some workouts, but then make outsized returns for you, right?

00:20:09: So it's subsidizing all these other bets.

00:20:12: And so in the US, sometimes they just see if they like you as a founder, right?

00:20:15: Invest on you.

00:20:16: And I think that's really reasonable because especially at the early stage, even if you have like some initial proof, it's only Super initial, right?

00:20:23: And you might change your idea later.

00:20:25: It might not scale.

00:20:26: So like it makes sense to invest in the founder, but you can only do that if you have enough money and conviction, right?

00:20:34: That this kind of investing works.

00:20:36: And so while I understand the German perspective, I just feel like in the U.S.

00:20:40: you have way more ability to like get funding as an unproven idea, which you really need as an entrepreneur, right?

00:20:46: Because you need initial capital even without having built the product, without having validation to actually get started somehow, right?

00:20:52: And so that allows more horses to start the race, whether that's great or not great for the investors.

00:20:59: I don't know, but it definitely allows more startups to start the race and kind of try to come up with something, right?

00:21:05: I think the second thing is like a more promotional character.

00:21:09: So.

00:21:10: Germans essentially are very conservative, right?

00:21:13: We don't like to brag.

00:21:14: We don't like to promise something that we don't have, which is definitely something that the US is better at.

00:21:22: And I understand the cultural aspects of that.

00:21:24: And I even think that there are some advantages to not bragging.

00:21:28: But we have to understand how startups work.

00:21:30: Like you don't have a product.

00:21:33: You have to make initial sales.

00:21:35: You have to go to market.

00:21:36: You have to convince.

00:21:37: Anybody like customers to buy something from you, which is not so proven.

00:21:40: That's how you get started.

00:21:42: That's how anything gets started, right?

00:21:44: So essentially every startup needs to sell something before they have a product because maybe in the beginning you don't have money to build a product, right?

00:21:50: And so in a way, what I like about the US is that it's way more encouraged to go out there and try to get enthusiasm for someone to trust you and then try to build the product afterwards, right?

00:22:03: And so that is a way of thinking that I think you actually need as an entrepreneur, even if you are in Germany, right?

00:22:09: And that the US just encourages more by default.

00:22:11: Like in Germany, if I sell something that I don't have, or like if I overpromise, I'm seen as kind of like a fraudster or something like that, right?

00:22:21: And the US is just part of the game.

00:22:22: Like, hey, you're promising something and then obviously you're working hard to meet it.

00:22:27: But essentially, it's such a part of the culture, essentially, to talk in a big way.

00:22:32: And in a way, everybody who does sales knows that they need to talk in a big way.

00:22:38: That's how you generate emotions in your buyers.

00:22:40: And so that's just like a part of the culture I like way more.

00:22:43: And to me, at least, it's more conducive to getting something off the ground versus kind of having a more conservative, traditional mindset.

00:22:51: Because essentially with the, it's like a death spiral, right?

00:22:54: It's like, if you're not making sales, Because you don't want to over-promise what you don't have.

00:22:59: You're not getting any custom money to build an excellent product that can compete with essentially all the American startups that are over-promising but also raising a lot of money and then can essentially have the money to build the product way more quickly than you can if you're too conservative about this.

00:23:19: Yeah, thank you.

00:23:20: I think those are some very insightful insights.

00:23:23: And I think it's important to also compare if you think about starting your startup.

00:23:28: What is the best market?

00:23:30: And yeah, there's a lot of things that play into it.

00:23:33: So thank you for that.

00:23:41: Before I let you go, I want to know what is planned for leaving AI?

00:23:46: What does your future look like?

00:23:48: Yeah, hopefully work with as many customers as we can.

00:23:51: So for example, we recently in Germany signed a hospital group and they actually are pretty digital.

00:23:57: So they have like an app, I think, or website that allows you to book appointments with the hospital group.

00:24:02: But guess what?

00:24:03: Many people don't want to like go on the website to book appointments.

00:24:06: They want to call the phone number, right?

00:24:07: To book an appointment.

00:24:09: And it's funny because this hospital group doesn't even advertise your phone number, but patients still find a way to somehow find this phone number.

00:24:16: and call this hospital group, right?

00:24:19: And it's crazy, actually.

00:24:20: They got like, five thousand calls a week and they didn't pick up any of them.

00:24:23: They just didn't pick up the calls, right?

00:24:25: And that's two disadvantages.

00:24:28: So first of all, you're not making money from these calls, right?

00:24:31: Because essentially, like... fifty percent of these customers want to schedule an appointment with you, right?

00:24:36: Like it's making money for your business, but you're not picking up the calls.

00:24:39: And second, it's also like a very bad customer experience, because essentially, you're not picking up the calls, you're not helping your customers, right?

00:24:45: So now they're piloting and already went live with one of their practices to have this digital worker that can always pick up the calls and try to schedule appointments and money for your business.

00:24:54: And so my vision is to just find more of those companies, right?

00:24:58: Travel companies like Hospital groups that would really benefit from additional digital call center staff in their team and provide value to their businesses But also provide a lot of value to their customers who can now Get their business done essentially immediately right whenever twenty four seven with with our digital workers.

00:25:17: Yeah

00:25:18: Yeah, that sounds really great.

00:25:19: And I really hope you reach all that goals, because I think as we already discussed before, there are a lot of benefits your product could offer.

00:25:28: So yeah, I really think you can do something with that.

00:25:32: Sadly, this is also already the end of this interview.

00:25:36: But before we let you go, maybe you can tell us a little bit about where we can find you, how we can contact you and give us all the details.

00:25:45: Yeah.

00:25:45: So if you were interested in reaching out, I'm always available on LinkedIn, right?

00:25:51: If you're interested in anything I was talking about, if you are like part of a business or you own a business and you have a call center and you believe that essentially like adding some digital workers would help to automate and streamline your operations or you know some people working at other companies that might need this, you know, always happy to connect over LinkedIn.

00:26:12: You can also head over to our website, which is leapingai.com.

00:26:22: And yeah, we can always schedule a demo there.

00:26:25: You can check out our website, book a demo call and reach out to our team over there as well.

00:26:30: Perfect.

00:26:30: Thank you so much.

00:26:31: And thank you for joining us today.

00:26:33: Thank you for the interview.

00:26:47: Why do Germans love to go to Majorca in Spain every single year, even though there are so many other islands around it that provide a similar experience?

00:26:56: So why do people not like to explore new islands but go to the same island every single year for their entire life?

00:27:03: Mallorca has long been affectionately called the Seventeen Bundesland or the Seventeen Federal State of Germany.

00:27:11: which says a lot about the deep connection many Germans have with this Spanish

00:27:16: island.

00:27:16: But why do so many Germans consistently choose Mallorca as their preferred vacation spot, despite the numerous other stunning travel destinations available?

00:27:26: Well,

00:27:27: part of it simply comes down to habit and tradition.

00:27:30: Mallorca has become the go-to mainstream holiday destination for German tourists for decades.

00:27:37: Many Germans grew up hearing about Mallorca holidays from parents or friends, making it feel like a familiar and reliable choice.

00:27:45: Almost every travel agency includes Mallorca in its offerings, so it's an easy recognizable option.

00:27:52: Historically, Mallorca's rise as a German favorite dates back to the nineteen seventies and boomed with the arrival of affordable Billigflüge, or budget flights, which made traveling to Mallorca simple and accessible to many.

00:28:07: It's almost guaranteed.

00:28:08: sunny weather, beautiful beaches and welcoming tourism infrastructures made it stand out from other Mediterranean destinations.

00:28:17: In addition, Spain was much poorer economically back then, so German tourists were warmly welcomed.

00:28:24: The island literally adapted itself to the tastes and expectations of German visitors in a way that places like southern France did not.

00:28:33: The nineteen nineties ballerman six culture, named after famous party stripe on the island, further cemented Mallorca's image as the ultimate German party destination.

00:28:44: The nineteen ninety-nine cult film Bollermann VI portrayed the Russia's fun Germans had there and it boosted Mallorca's popularity tremendously.

00:28:54: The year after the movie's release

00:28:56: saw a sixty-five

00:28:57: percent increase in German tourists.

00:29:00: Today, millions of Germans still visit Mallorca every year.

00:29:05: Statistics show that about one-third of all tourists on the island are German.

00:29:10: It's estimated that over sixty thousands Germans live on Mallorca, either full-time or for large parts of the year.

00:29:17: The island offers a mix of everything, from energetic nightlife and beach clubs to serene countryside, quaint villages and stunning natural beauty.

00:29:27: Besides the physical comforts and familiar cultural touches, like German-friendly restaurants, stores and even radio stations, Germans also enjoy the social vibe.

00:29:38: Mallorca offers a community feel, but German language and culture mingle with Mediterranean charm.

00:29:45: For many, it feels like a second home outside Germany.

00:29:49: So, in short, Germans love Mallorca because it blends tradition, accessibility, sunny beach days, social life and a taste of home all in one island paradise.

00:30:00: It's no wonder the island continues to hold a special place in the German travel heart.

00:30:06: even as new destinations are emerging around the world.

00:30:17: That wraps up this week's episode of plus forty nine.

00:30:20: We covered rising asylum lawsuits, Germany's demographic challenges, apple harvest festival and a fascinating conversation with Kevin Wu from Liebing AI.

00:30:31: Next week we'll dig into another important topic you won't want to miss.

00:30:35: So make sure you're subscribed and follow us on social media.

00:30:39: That's plus underscore forty nine.

00:30:42: Thanks for listening and see you

00:30:44: soon.

00:30:45: Goodbye.