Despite the high inflation, people in Germany are in the mood to travel. This is shown by the summer season, which ends in a few weeks.
The return of the desire to travel despite high inflation is pulling the travel industry out of the Corona low. Bookings at industry leader Tui in the summer did not quite reach the pre-pandemic level. According to the company, they were 5 percent higher than in 2022, but still 4 percent lower than in 2019. Without events like the forest fires in Rhodes, the group would have exceeded its expectations, said CEO Sebastian Ebel.
Despite the sharp increase in the cost of living, according to data from the tour operator Dertour, many vacationers did not save on this year’s summer vacation – on the contrary.
Tui boss Ebel sees the group on track to achieve its profit target for the financial year ending at the end of September. Earnings before interest, taxes and special effects (adjusted EBIT) should continue to significantly exceed the previous year’s figure of 409 million euros.
In addition to the recovery in demand, this is also due to higher prices: According to Tui, customers are spending an average of 8 percent more on their bookings this summer than last year. Compared to summer 2019, the increase is 27 percent. When it comes to booking numbers, Tui refers to the booking status as of September 10th.
According to Ebel, the positive business development is particularly evident in the group’s two most important markets: in Germany, bookings are 10 percent higher than in the previous year. In Great Britain, Tui counts a similar number of guests as in the already strong year 2022 and even 4 percent more than in the pre-Corona year 2019. “The positive booking dynamics are continuing and I am very optimistic for the upcoming winter and summer seasons,” said Ebel .
Higher-priced hotels and all-inclusive are trending
According to an analysis by the tour operator Dertour, which belongs to DER Touristik, the second in the industry, people did not save money on this year’s summer vacation. Accordingly, 80 percent of guests booked a 4 or 5 star hotel. Last year it was 79 percent. A quarter chose a luxury hotel (5 stars) – two points more than in summer 2022.
“We have noticed that the trends of last summer and winter, for example towards higher quality hotels, have continued and even strengthened,” explained Sven Schikarsky, product manager at Dertour as well as ITS and Meiers Weltreisen.
The number of family vacations has also increased. There is a slight increase in long-distance travel. “This shows us that the importance of vacation is higher than ever,” analyzed Schikarsky. The organizer Dertour evaluated the booking and travel behavior of its guests as well as the sister brands Jahn Reisen, ITS, Meiers Weltreisen and Travelix for the months of June to the end of September. The summer season traditionally runs until the end of October.
All-inclusive continues to be the trend. According to Dertour, 45 percent of guests chose this this summer. If you don’t have to pay extra for food and drinks, you have more control over the costs.
Pre-Corona level exceeded
According to recently published data from the analysis company TDA, overall booking sales for tour operators in the 2023 summer season at the end of July were 16 percent above the same period last year and 9 percent above the pre-Corona level of summer 2019. TDA estimates the bookings of package and modular trips in around 2,000 travel agencies. In addition, the booking data from classic travel portals is recorded online.
Source: Stern
