Market Update – June 30, 2022

Market Update – June 30, 2022

Market Update – June 30, 2022 820 312 fame creative lab

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

 

Current major topics within the tourism industry in the DACH region

  • Here’s how the LGBTQ+ community fares when traveling: June is traditionally Pride Month. The digital travel platform Booking.com uses this to publish new research from the LGBTQ+ community. The conclusion: already 82% of LGBTQ+ travelers have had no positive or even unpleasant experiences while traveling. The travel study highlights concerns and travel preferences, as well as past stay experiences and current realities related to inclusion. The study of LGBTQ+ travelers from 25 countries around the world found that negative experiences were most common in public (31%). More than half (55%) of LGBTQ+ travelers have experienced discrimination during their travels, whether through stereotyping (28%) or being stared at, laughed at, or verbally abused by other travelers (18%) and/or by locals (17%). So it’s not surprising that travel is much more complex for LGBTQ+ travelers, from choosing a destination to the activities they participate in. However: 85% of LGBTQ+ travelers report that they have felt welcome in most of their previous travel experiences. Six in ten travelers report that being part of the LGBTQ+ community makes them feel more confident about traveling. In doing so, 84% say they have the confidence to visit their desired destinations. Read more


  • Last minute travel trends of Austrians: Shortly before the start of the vacations, TUI took another look at the travel trends of Austrians. Demand has been very strong, especially in recent weeks, and is consistently above the level of 2019. The established destinations around the Mediterranean are particularly in demand. Turkey in particular is igniting the turbo this summer: Antalya has moved into first place ahead of Crete. Here, TUI is planning growth compared to 2019 with 1.5 million guests across the Group. Greece continues to be in strong demand and is defending its position as the number 1 most popular vacation destination for Austrians again this year. Cyprus and Egypt are also currently showing strong growth. TUI is also recording high growth rates for long-haul destinations such as the USA, the Maldives and the Dominican Republic. Zanzibar is the shooting star on long-haul routes. The second RIU hotel is due to open here shortly. Among the bestsellers for car trips are Croatia and Italy. Hotels on the lake in Austria are also in demand this summer. Read more


  • How the GenZ travels: The international YouGov Travel & Tourism Report 2022 ‚Youth of today, travel of tomorrow‘ shows that the desire to travel among 18- to 24-year-olds, the Generation Z or GenZ for short, remains unbroken after two years of the Corona forced break. One-fifth of GenZ plan to spend more on travel in the next twelve months than before, the highest proportion of all age groups surveyed. But the report’s data also shows that high travel costs are the most common travel obstacle for this demographic. Low prices are often the deciding factor for one-third of GenZ when choosing a destination. The price-performance ratio is even just under half of the target group. The GenZ generally shows a tendency toward sustainability in many areas of life, including food and clothing. Climate change and the desire for more environmentally friendly energy are among the main concerns of this generation. This is also reflected in the target group’s travel preferences. The focus of the new (travel) generation is particularly on authentic, sustainable trips. Vacations combined with volunteering and eco-tourism are at the top of the GenZ’s wish list in an international comparison. So sustainable travel options and flights with lower CO2 emissions are important to them. Eco-friendly accommodations and a need to give back to the local culture and society are also priorities. For information about travel destinations and offers, the ‚digital natives‘ of GenZ naturally and naturally rely on social media. In addition to recommendations from family and friends, the GenZ most often finds their next travel destination through social media marketing, user-driven recommendations, and travel influencers. With multi-channel communication focused on digital channels, both tour operators and destinations are most likely to win over the youngest travel target group. A big role is played by the fact that travel for GenZ also serves to mirror vacations on social media – they have to be Instagrammable. Read more


  • FTI Group increasingly focuses on sustainability: The FTI Group is now taking on more responsibility for the environment and society worldwide and is giving the issue of sustainability a new priority with immediate effect. The future strategic orientation will focus primarily on measures for climate protection, sustainable travel, the protection of resources and biodiversity, and social responsibility. „With our new sustainability strategy, we are actively supporting the European Union’s Green Deal and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) set by the United Nations. We will reflect them in everything we do,“ explains FTI Group CEO Ralph Schiller. Read more

 

 

Current major topics within the aviation industry in Germany and Europe

         

  • Finnair secures more sustainable fuel: The use of sustainable aviation fuel is an important element in airlines‘ sustainability strategies. Finnair is also focusing on sustainably produced kerosene and has now signed a contract to this effect. The Finnish airline will purchase a good 26 million liters of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year from 2027. To this end, the carrier has now signed a corresponding supply agreement with Gevo, a producer of renewable fuels based in the U.S. state of Colorado. The agreement is expected to be worth $192 million (the equivalent of 182 million euros) over five years. The agreement is part of the Oneworld Alliance’s plan to source up to 750 million liters of sustainable aviation fuel per year. Gevo uses corn products that are not fit for human consumption to produce its fuel and processes them into ethanol, which in turn is converted into sustainable aviation fuel. The fuel is used on Finnair’s flights from Los Angeles. Finnair is also working with California-based Aemetis to take a total of about 66 million liters of blended sustainable aviation fuel from 2025 to 2032. „Finnair has set ambitious emission reduction targets: By the end of 2025, we want to halve net emissions compared to 2019, and by the end of 2045 at the latest, we want to be carbon neutral. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plays an important role in achieving these goals,“ explains Eveliina Huurre, SVP Sustainability at Finnair. Read more


  • Lufthansa does not expect a normal flight schedule until 2023: Lufthansa does not expect flight operations to return to normal until next year. This is not just a German problem, but applies to the whole world, said CEO Detlef Kayser in an interview. „Unfortunately, we will hardly be able to realistically achieve a short-term improvement now in the summer,“ Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser told Die Welt. Currently, the only thing that would help is to reduce the number of flights. „We expect the situation to return to normal overall in 2023.“ Lufthansa plans to cancel around 2,800 more flights at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs because crews are increasingly calling in sick due to corona cases. It had already announced a good two weeks ago to cancel 900 connections here on Fridays and weekends in July. The low-cost subsidiary Eurowings also expects further cancellations. The main reason for the cancellations is a lack of staff, both at the airports, for example at security checks, and at the airlines themselves. It was clear very early on that staff shortages would be a problem in the airline industry, Kayser told the newspaper. Frankfurt Airport, for example, had invested heavily in recruitment. But it was recognized that staff could not be built up as quickly as hoped, which was also due, for example, to the more stringent industry-specific security checks. Lufthansa and Eurowings want to largely exclude classic vacation routes from the cuts. Flights within Germany and Europe, for which there are alternative travel options such as rail, are to be eliminated. Read more 


  • Condor and Tuifly do not want to cancel flights: The shortage of staff at airlines and airports is increasingly throwing people’s travel plans into disarray. While airlines such as Lufthansa are canceling thousands of flights, vacation airlines have so far seen no reason to change anything in their plans for the summer. „We have not canceled any flights and are not planning to do so,“ a Condor spokeswoman said Friday. The company has not cut any jobs during the pandemic and has the situation well under control so far, she said. In addition, she said, Condor was also using aircraft including staff from other airlines on peak days to get all customers to their vacation destinations as planned – and back again. German vacation carrier Tuifly also sees no reason so far to reduce its flight schedule for the summer. „We are not canceling anything at all,“ said a Tui spokesman. For example, the company has not recorded any increased cases of illness due to the Coronavirus. It is even possible that Tuifly will add extra flights on one day or another to make up for cancellations by other airlines, the spokesman said. Read more

Destination news

  • Finland: Entry into Finland from Germany, Schengen countries and EU countries is now possible without corona-related restrictions. However, according to the Finnish government, health protection measures are possible after border control. This also includes the verification of corona certificates according to the 3G rule, it is said from Helsinki.
  • Visit Finland: With the „Find Yourself“ campaign, Finland wants to give travelers the opportunity to get inspiration and sustainable offers for their trips. The campaign runs until July 3 and includes travel suggestions in the categories of cottage/resort, round trip and outdoor.
  • South Africa: The country on the Cape has lifted the state of emergency, abolished mandatory masks, and now no longer requires negative corona tests or proof of vaccination from visitors.
  • Israel: May visitor statistics released by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism show a recovery in international tourism to the Holy Land. A total of 249,000 visitors arrived in May to explore Israel; last year, 21,500 visitors arrived in the same month, and even compared to 2019’s record 439,000 inbound visitors, this represents a decrease of only 43%. 
  • Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka reported the complete collapse of its economy a few days ago. At the same time, the country’s tourism minister, Harin Fernando, visited Berlin to advertise for visitors from Germany and to assure that the supply of tourists will be ensured. While the country is currently lacking everything including fuel, gas, electricity and food, there is also a lack of income from tourism. While the revenue in 2018 would have been around 4.75 billion euros, in 2020 it would have fallen to about 942 million euros. For the island state, the current situation presents a fist-pumping dilemma.
  • Bhutan: The Tourism Council of Bhutan announced June 29 that it will reopen its borders to international tourism as of Sept. 23. However, the country at the foot of the Himalayas wants to transform tourism, focusing on three areas: ‚improving infrastructure and services‘, ‚enhancing tourism experiences‘ and ‚tourism sustainability‘. Among the many changes are revised standards for service providers, including hotels, tour guides, tour operators and drivers, who will soon be subject to a more rigorous certification process. To fund this transformation, Bhutan on June 20 increased its tourism tax from the current USD 65 to USD 200 per person per night. This fee is to be used directly for measures in favor of carbon neutral tourism and for the training of workers in this sector. 
  • Central America & Dominican Republic: The seven countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic see the recovery of tourism in their region on a good path. This is according to recent data from the Secretariat for the Integration of Central American Tourism (SITCA). The national tourism boards of the eight member countries Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are united under the SITCA umbrella. They recorded a total of 11.1 million visitors in 2021, 86 percent of whom were tourists and 14 percent excursionists. Compared to 2020, the community recorded a 75.8 percent increase in visits in 2021. There was also an 84 percent increase in revenue compared to 2020.

 


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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