A contact body for a cooling tower in which water to be cooled is distributed from the top of the contact body and in which cooling air flows through the contact body in a cross current and/or counter current flow relative to the water flow, is comprised of a plurality of tubular lattice-type plastic bodies that are assembled to form a packaged element such that respective outer mantle surfaces of the tubular plastic bodies contact one another. The tubular plastic bodies are cut to length from a continuously manufactured endless tube that is formed of crossing stays. The cut length of the tubular plastic bodies corresponds to a selected dimension of the contact body, i.e., the height or width of the contact body. The ends of the tubular plastic bodies on at least one side of the packaged element are connected to one another, preferably by fusing.