The desire to travel is unbroken, what’s more: Germans are travelling more intensively than ever before and are spending a lot of money on it. A trend that the tourism industry is celebrating.
For Silke Schmidt from Frankfurt, traveling is the top priority. Easter, summer, autumn and winter, she pays around 15,000 euros for four vacation trips with the family. And she is not alone in this, says Helmut Wachowiak, tourism expert at the International University in Berlin. “You could even say that Germans are traveling more intensively than ever,” he says. According to current studies, almost 80 percent of all Germans over the age of 14 take at least one vacation trip a year.
Expenditure at record levels
And those hungry for a holiday are willing to pay a lot for it: spending has risen from 73 billion euros in 2019 to almost 87 billion euros in 2023, according to a result of the 2024 travel analysis. That’s around seven percent of net household income. In terms of consumption priorities, holiday travel is in second place – right behind food.
According to the German Tourism Analysis, Germans spent an average of 1,337 euros per person on their main vacation in 2023. A record. And airlines, travel companies and travel agencies are noticing this: Anke Dannesberger from Berger Reisebüro in Frankfurt says sales figures have risen incredibly. “People just want to get out – at any price,” she says.
Early bird discount instead of last-minute bargains
And something else is different at Dannesberger this year: After 30 years of travel agency experience, she can say with certainty that customers have never booked as early as they have this financial year. Prices are high, and anyone who wants to travel at short notice runs the risk of paying even more.
According to Dannesberger, this is because tour operators no longer buy large quantities of flights and hotels, but instead buy them on the market at the last minute. “Last minute is completely out,” she says. The new motto: the earlier, the cheaper.
Long-distance and air travel are becoming increasingly popular
In 2023, Germans made 65 million vacation trips lasting five days or more. Their own country is still the favorite destination: 22 percent spend their main vacation in Germany.
But long-distance and air travel are clearly in the fast lane: Spain with Mallorca and Turkey are in the lead. The plane has overtaken the car as the most popular means of transport, says tourism researcher Wachowiak. Internationally, it is assumed that air traffic will increase significantly again in the next ten years.
Sustainability is only important in theory for many
And where is the flight shame? In a recent survey commissioned by HolidayCheck, 45 percent of respondents said they attach more importance to sustainability. At the same time, the number of flights is higher than ever before. “The gap between desire and reality is wide,” says Wachowiak.
Dannesberger has had a similar experience: As soon as it comes to concrete bookings, sustainability plays only a very minor or no role at all. But here she sees the responsibility primarily with the tourism industry: Airplanes need to be built that no longer spit out so much kerosene, and more investment needs to be made locally in sustainable projects and tourism concepts. Overall, however, it remains to be said that Germans’ desire to travel is unbroken and crisis-proof.