Corona mutant: is Delta thwarting vacation plans?

The tourism industry was only just hoping for an end to the Corona crisis thanks to the increasing number of bookings. Now the question arises: is Delta preventing the summer vacation? TUI has already canceled package tours to Portugal.

Vacation is possible again this summer. Hotels are open in more and more European countries. The first cruise ships are already setting out to sea. As significantly as the number of infections is falling, bookings at TUI or Lufthansa are increasing – and so is the Germans’ desire to travel, says portfolio manager Michael Gierse from Union Investment: “I think we have a lot of catching up to do at the moment. The population would like to travel and is in the starting blocks, “said Gierse.

If it weren’t for the Delta variant, which is spreading in Great Britain. The popular holiday destination Portugal will also be considered a virus variant area from tomorrow. Entry to Germany from there is then only possible with a subsequent 14-day quarantine. Travel expert Gierse nevertheless believes that this will not thwart the summer vacation plans of most Germans: “The large travel flows from Germany, as far as air traffic is concerned, are going to Spain, Turkey and Greece” – and they are not yet affected by the delta mutant of the corona virus, at least not yet.

Lufthansa is sending out clear signals

But last summer showed how quickly something like this can change. In any case, the current reports on the spread of the delta variant come at an inopportune time for the already badly shaken tourism companies. Just a few days ago, TUI and Lufthansa were able to announce booking records. Since May, vacation trips have been booked more than in the pre-Corona year.

With the start of the Hessian summer holidays on Saturday, Lufthansa even has a jumbo jet from Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca, on four Saturdays in a row – because the demand is so great. For the aviation expert Stefan Schöppner from Commerzbank, it is also a kind of marketing: “This is a symbol that the demand is very high, but it is also a symbol on the market that everyone knows: there will be flights again”, so Schöppner. “People are getting back on planes and you could think about booking a flight again.”

There is still room for improvement in terms of income

From the perspective of Lufthansa, it is urgently necessary that even more people book a flight. After all, the airline still has around 1.2 billion euros in debt to the state – and the company boss wants to repay this before the general election in September. For this, money has to be raised on the capital market, because the income alone is not enough, explains aviation expert Schöppner: “The airline is still a long way from the old days, because at the moment it is mainly private individuals and only a few business trips that fly.” So there is still room for improvement: “The cash flow from Lufthansa, the inflow of funds, is not that sparkling yet, it still has to improve significantly.”

Even if many people are currently ready to spend money on vacation travel, the mood could quickly turn again. And the virus variant can also create new facts: After classifying Portugal as a virus variant area, TUI canceled all package tours there until the end of July.