journeys
A glimmer of hope for the tourism industry
Beach on Rügen: The desire to travel among Germans is greater than it has been for a long time. Photo: Stefan Sauer/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
People have a great desire to travel. However, the corona pandemic continues to cause uncertainty.
The desire to travel among people in Germany is greater than it has been for a long time. According to the research association Holiday and Travel (FUR), however, the imponderables of the corona pandemic are slowing down the implementation of some travel dreams.
Reservation reluctance
Demand is therefore likely to be lower in the current year than in the pre-corona period, according to an analysis published by FUR on Friday. According to this, 61 percent of a good 2,500 respondents feel like taking a vacation trip this year (previous year: 51 percent). At 72 percent and 70 percent respectively, the time and money factors were also rated more favorably than they had been since 2013, when these questions were asked for the first time. “However, this is not necessarily implemented in travel,” explained FUR tourism researcher Martin Lohmann. The uncertainties of the changing regulations mean that many people who want to travel are waiting to make bookings. In addition, Corona regulations limited the accessibility and capacities of tourist offers.
However, a “step towards normalization” of the situation before the outbreak of the pandemic is expected. It is assumed that around 60 million holiday trips are taken by people in this country. That would be an estimated 10 million more than in the previous tourism year.
Proportion of air travel still rather low
Destinations between Rügen and Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as in Germany’s neighboring countries will also be in demand in the current year. The proportion of air travel is likely to remain relatively low compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. Camping holidays, which are considered low-contact, find new friends in Corona times. Never before have so many people in Germany been interested in vacationing in a mobile home (15 percent) or in a caravan (12 percent).
Tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by the Corona crisis. The DRV travel association puts the loss of sales at travel agencies and tour operators in Germany alone in two pandemic years at around 24 billion euros.
According to the FUR, tourism worldwide fell by more than 70 percent last year compared to the year before the crisis. The number of international guest arrivals was estimated at around 351 million, after 381 million in 2020 and 1.46 billion in 2019. The volume of international tourism is roughly the same as in 1987.