Spain, Greece, Turkey: Germans’ love of travel is back. But in countries like Portugal, tourism is already coming to a standstill because of the Delta. Which countries are still affected – and which rules apply.
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Hans Gasser
The Germans will not become European champions in football, but when it comes to holiday bookings for summer and autumn, they are slowly getting back to European championship level. “A real booking boom set in from mid-May 2021, and we are currently recording receipts from week to week at or above the level of the comparable period 2018/19,” said the managing director of the travel company FTI, Ralph Schiller. Above all, the lifting of the quarantine requirements after returning from vacation has spurred demand. The development is similar with other large tour operators. According to a survey by Travel Data + Analytics (TDA), the booking figures for the coming summer are 33 percent higher than those of summer 2020. Compared to summer 2019, however, the cumulative amount of bookings since the beginning of the year is just 25 percent, restricts the German travel association. But the trend is pointing steeply upwards, the classic bathing destinations on the Mediterranean are currently in demand in summer, above all Spain, followed by Greece and Turkey. The wanderlust is back.