Status: 07.03.2023 09:21 a.m
After the pandemic, the Germans are no longer holding back: their desire to travel is great, the tourism industry can breathe a sigh of relief. This also creates a good mood at the ITB travel fair.
After more than three years of the corona pandemic, the longing for summer, sun, beach and sea is greater than ever. At the Werner travel agency in Bensheim, Hesse, there is a great rush; the mood is almost euphoric, explains the long-time director Thomas Lorbecher. “This applies to all travel countries and all types of travel, i.e. not only classic package tours, but also individual trips, which are again increasing very strongly,” says Lorbecher happily. After the travel industry was deep in crisis in recent years and had to struggle with dramatic sales slumps, the turnaround now seems to have been successful.
“The travel world champions are back”
The travel industry is currently on a strong upward trend, confirms Torsten Schäfer from the German Travel Association (DRV): “Travel agencies and tour operators have started the new year at full throttle. Since December 2022, new bookings for package and modular tours have been almost continuously higher than Corona.” The booking turnover in travel agencies and on online travel portals is very high.
According to the German Travel Association, January was particularly busy with bookings: Incoming sales doubled compared to January 2022. And compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, they were also twelve percent up. This trend is currently continuing. “The world travel champions are back,” Schäfer summarizes.
German Travel Association at the ITB: Great need for travel
3/6/2023 12:17 p.m
Good atmosphere at the ITB
On the fringes of the tourism exchange ITB in Berlin, which is considered the largest travel fair in the world, the signs are full of recovery. The more optimistic consumer sentiment is clearly reflected in travel bookings, sums up travel agency DERTOUR. Here, bookings for the summer season were 70 percent higher than the previous year and also above the pre-corona level.
For the tour operator, January was “the month with the most bookings we’ve ever had,” explains Ingo Burmester, Managing Director of DER Touristik Central Europe. “In particular, family bookings are developing very positively.”
In addition, early booking is back in fashion. “We can see that many families are taking advantage of the better planability this year. They are securing attractive early booking offers and family specials in order to relieve their travel budget,” explains Burmester. The demand for long-distance travel and city trips is also picking up noticeably.
Germans don’t skimp on vacation
Even if the current inflation rate of 8.7 percent is still high and the war in Ukraine is causing uncertainty, most people finally want to go on vacation carefree again this year after most corona regulations have now been lifted.
This continues the positive development from last year, when trips abroad had already reached the pre-corona level again and sales in the travel industry rose sharply. From November 2021 to the end of October 2022, travel expenses doubled from 28.8 billion euros to 58.6 billion euros, according to a DRV balance sheet. In particular, the proportion of package tours organized by tour operators increased again.
Trends and optimism for the summer season
According to the “German Tourism Analysis” published in February by the Foundation for Future Questions – a survey of 3,000 people over the age of 18 – six out of ten Germans are currently planning their next trip. Accordingly, organizers are optimistic about the travel year 2023.
“The top 5 travel destinations for the main travel season in summer are Turkey, Spain, Greece, Egypt and Portugal,” predicts DRV representative Schäfer. “During the Easter holidays in April, most vacationers prefer destinations in Egypt, the Canary Islands and Turkey, followed by the Balearic Islands, Maldives, Greece and the United Arab Emirates.” After their comeback last year, cruises are also very popular again.
Sales as expected before Corona
For the travel industry, the transition from the pandemic to the endemic situation ensures significantly more planning security for this year. Based on its survey data, the Foundation for Future Questions expects that the travel frequency this year should at least be at the pre-corona level, if not even higher.
“We are optimistic,” emphasizes Schäfer. “Our expectation is to reach the sales level of the pre-Corona record year 2019.” But the industry’s great hope is that 2023 will actually be the best year for travel ever.