Market Update February 24, 2022

Market Update February 24, 2022

Market Update February 24, 2022 820 312 fame creative lab

Please note: The following information has been compiled from the most important German speaking Trade Media.

Short Overview Situation in Germany

  • As in most parts of the world, the number of new infections is going down. The occupancy situation in hospitals is relaxed. About 75% of the German population are now fully vaccinated.
  • During a conference on Feb 16 an opening plan in 3 steps has been released. By March 20, most restrictions will be waived. Only basic measures such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing etc will remain in place
  • As of March 20, there will also be changes to the classification of high risk regions, mainly to make international travel easier. Children up to the age of 12 are to be exempt from quarantine when returning from high-risk areas, and many fewer countries are to be designated as high-risk areas in the future. The relaxation is due to come into force on March 4.

Current major topics within the tourism industry in Germany

  • Trends for the future of business travel: These are the 8 trends that will shape business travel in the future, according to the latest travel analysis: 
    1. more flexibility through flexible mobility budgets and customizable rate models.
    2. travel safety has become more important due to the pandemic.
    3. sustainability is becoming increasingly important, even for large corporations, and more attention is being paid to „green travel policies.“
    4. real versus virtual – there is potential for conflict here, because while companies want to permanently reduce travel, employees are drawn out again. 
    5. employee well-being also plays an important role, as it is reflected in productivity, and it is advisable to make business travel attractive and comfortable accordingly.
    6. cyber security is a part of the many travel hazards of business travel, and it is necessary to train travelers accordingly to protect sensitive company data. 
    7. simplify payments – smooth digital payment processing is a key trend topic and is driven primarily by innovative technical options.
    8. the leisure trend will continue: the combination of business and pleasure travel is an easy option in pandemic times, and remote work is now also possible in many places. https://www.fvw.de/businesstravel/travelmanagement/cybersicherheit-bis-wohlbefinden-diese-8-trends-praegen-die-geschaeftsreise-224238?utm_source=%2Fmeta%2Fnewsletter%2Fbiztravelnews&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nl4370&utm_term=a83296bbfc6dc98052fa25a01630baf0 
  • Positive outlook for 2022, large OTA is already back in black numbers: Many tour operators and travel agencies hope that a good summer season in the current fiscal year will enable them to operate in the black. However, almost all well-known online travel intermediaries, above all the US groups, have already achieved this goal in 2021, according to the annual financial statements now presented. The reasons are unanimous: travel business picked up last summer compared to the extremely weak year of 2020, while at the same time staff was reduced and marketing scaled back in the wake of the crisis. In terms of marketing, the portals were also helped by the fact that demand pressure for searched travel keywords in Google Ads placed by auction was lower during the crisis and that many customers also searched more on the Internet of their own accord during the lockdown. https://www.fvw.de/touristik/vertrieb/jahresbilanzen-grosse-ota-mit-schwarzen-zahlen-sogar-fuer-2021-224211 
  • TUI presents Easter travel trends 2022: According to TUI’s booking analysis, travelers are longing for sun and sea. Hurghada leads the ranking of medium-haul destinations for the Easter vacations. Dubai is the top long-haul destination, closely followed by the Maldives and Mexico. Booking figures are also already rising for the fall vacations, and airports are already being stocked up in popular destinations. https://www.tip-online.at/news/49076/tui-praesentiert-oster-reisetrends-2022/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tip-more flexibility through flexible mobility budgets and customizable rate models.  

Current major topics within the aviation industry in Germany

  • Austrian Airlines records „enormous“ increase in bookings: With the announcement of large-scale relaxations of covid restrictions throughout Europe, bookings at Austrian Airlines had skyrocketed. Demand for flights during the Easter vacations was particularly strong, with travelers mainly drawn to warm-water destinations such as the Maldives, Mauritius and Cancún. However, Thailand – since the renewed relaxations – is also in strong demand again, he added. Mediterranean destinations such as Málaga or classic city trip destinations such as Paris, Hamburg or Berlin are also experiencing a strong increase, so that some of these destinations have already been increased with additional frequencies. https://www.tip-online.at/news/49096/austrian-airlines-verzeichnet-enormen-buchungsanstieg/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tip-daily_23.02.2022 
  • Why flying is likely to become more expensive: For more than a month, KLM has been blending sustainable fuel into the kerosene otherwise used on all flights from Amsterdam. However, the share of biofuel is manageable: 0.5 percent per flight is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which is mainly produced on the basis of used cooking oil. In addition to KLM, other airlines are increasingly relying on the use of SAF. Just recently, Japan’s ANA extended its SAF Flight Initiative, launched in 2021, to the flights of its domestic corporate partners. Until now, the alternative fuel has been added to cargo flights alone. Lufthansa (LH), in turn, concluded contracts at the end of 2021 for the purchase of biofuel over the next three years worth the equivalent of 220 million euros. In addition, the carrier has long offered its customers the opportunity to voluntarily offset the CO2 emissions of their flight by purchasing SAF. Nevertheless, the use of SAF has so far not been more than a green drop in the bucket of climate-damaging CO2 emissions in aviation. This is already shown by the limited blending of sustainable aviation fuel by KLM on Amsterdam flights. And Lufthansa’s SAF investment of almost a quarter of a billion euros over the next three years is also put into perspective when looking at the total fuel costs of the LH Group: these amounted to 6.7 billion euros in 2019 before the start of the Corona crisis. https://www.fvw.de/touristik/verkehr/einsatz-von-oeko-treibstoff-warum-fliegen-teurer-werden-duerfte-224225 

Destination news

Just read on and enjoy! And if you have any doubt, or would like to talk to us about how to approach these markets better, just get in touch with us. We’ll be delighted to help you.

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