Package holidays: Is the interest waning after the FTI bankruptcy?

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Vacation
After the FTI bankruptcy: Is the desire for package holidays decreasing?

Providers recently made record sales with package holidays

© Getty Images

Victoria Robertz

Germans love their summer holidays – and package holidays. A few weeks ago, the third-largest provider, FTI, had to file for bankruptcy. But the case also shows the advantages of this type of holiday.

Their end has often been predicted, and yet travel agencies and package tour providers are more successful than ever. They are profiting from the desire to travel among Germans, who spent more money on vacation last year than ever before: almost 80 billion euros. Tour operators are reporting record sales.

However, the third largest German provider, FTI, had to file for bankruptcy at the beginning of June. The bankruptcy unsettled customers, but also highlighted the advantages of package holidays. Only those who have booked one will get their money back through the German Travel Insurance Fund in the event of bankruptcy. 90 percent of the holidays booked through FTI are package holidays, which means that the vast majority of customers are covered. “It is also not necessarily more expensive to book through an operator than to do everything yourself,” says Torsten Kirstges, Professor of Tourism Economics at Jade University of Applied Sciences in Wilhelmshaven. “Operators have a volume effect and get more favorable conditions than a private individual.”

Package holidays remain popular

Kirstges does not expect any further bankruptcies at the moment. FTI took too high a risk with an aggressive pricing strategy. In addition, a data scandal led to a loss of trust. Other tour operators calculate more solidly and generate higher profits. Customers cannot currently hope for falling prices for package tours. Nevertheless, they remain popular: According to the German Travel Association, a quarter more people had already booked a tour operator trip for their summer vacation in March than at the same time last year.

Published in stern 26/2024

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