A German football fan has revealed how a new-found love for the Tartan Army has inspired him to book a trip to Scotland later this year.

Florian Moeller, an airline employee from Frankfurt, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that he had purchased flights from the German city to Glasgow in September, commenting that “the Tartan Army made me do it”.

Mr Moeller said: “I already had it on my bucket list for 2024, but having all the Scottish fans in my home country gave me the final motivation to book a trip.

“I was lucky to get tickets for the Scotland matches against Switzerland and Hungary, so I attended these matches in the stadium and took part in the fan festivities before the matches.”

Mr Moeller believes that there will be plenty more compatriots who will be contemplating making a visit to Scotland after seeing how the Tartan Army interacted with locals and behaved during the tournament.

He added: “I absolutely think so. A lot of Germans met Scots in the cities, bars, fan zones or in the stadiums and were absolutely impressed of how friendly and easy-going the Scottish fans are. 

“Especially in my hometown Frankfurt we have a lot of experience with international football fans due to Eintracht Frankfurt’s most recent European campaigns, and those experiences were not always positive. Now a lot of my friends think about a trip to Scotland after they met Scottish fans or saw the videos on social media. 

“Also there is a petition running to arrange an annual friendly match between Scotland and Germany, and I really hope this can be made possible. Euro 2024 has shown how well Scots and Germans fit together.”

The Tartan Army was widely praised for their behaviour in Germany. It is estimated as many as 200,000 fans made the trip to Germany as they travelled from Munich to Cologne to Stuttgart to follow Steve Clarke’s side.

Euro 2024 tournament director Phillip Lahm praised the Tartan Army for doing “everything right” during the national team’s run in the competition.

In an article for The Observer, the former German international and Bayern Munich legend said that he was already missing the atmosphere Scottish fans brought to the Euros.

“They did everything right,” he said. “They marched through Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart singing. “Even in cities where they weren’t playing, they infected everyone with their good humour.”

Scotland fans were also voted the best supporters at Euro 2024 by German news channel RTL, after SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell praised fans for the positive image of Scotland they have shared around the world.    

Meanwhile, following the late elimination by Hungary, Kicker, the German football magazine, published what it described as a 'love letter' to the Tartan Army.

It said: "You have already done Scotland credit and done a great service to your embassy; because they would not have been able to achieve this positive advertising for Scotland in ten years. Compliments!

“So stay here and visit the fan zones with your grandiose outfits and your wonderful bagpipes, put on a Germany scarf and celebrate with us until the end.

“If you have taken holidays anyway, then just stay here until the final and celebrate with us, because, as we have all learned now: 'No Scotland, no party'."

It comes after new insights from VisitScotland revealed that traffic from Germany to its consumer website VisitScotland.com almost doubled during Scotland’s tournament dates (13 – 23 June 2024), an increase of +83% compared to the same period last year.  

Friday June 14, the day of Scotland’s opening game against hosts Germany, saw the highest number of German users of the year so far.  

This increase in interest will be seen as an encouraging sign by Scotland’s tourism industry, with German visitors making 343,000 visits and spending £247 million last year.  

Research from the national tourism organisation showed that German visitors, who are more likely to travel throughout the year and different parts of the country, visit Scotland for its scenery and landscapes, history and culture and people.  

The national tourism organisation is currently running a series of adverts across three German cities promoting Scotland as “the perfect getaway for locals looking to substitute the football drama with dramatic scenery”. 

The mobile digital adverts which will run until the final on July 14, are expected to be seen by up to two million people over the course of the tournament.