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
- The German travel industry does not give up hope. DRV president Fiebig is certain that Germans will still travel in 2023. War, inflation, energy shortages, climate crisis, uncertainty – the signs are truly difficult for the travel industry. But DRV President Norbert Fiebig and representatives of tour operators and travel agencies remain optimistic at the association’s annual conference. Things could not get worse than the worldwide shutdown during the pandemic, they say. “Traveling is important for the Germans, and they have travelled during past recessions as well.If there is money available, the Germans will travel” is the shared opinion of the industry leaders who took part at the conference. Read on
- ITB Berlin: 70% of exhibition space is already sold. Especially the early bird offer is being sold well, as per the fair organizers. Destinations like Turkey, Morocco and Georgia will even increase their stand space. All key destinations from all 5 continents plan to be present at the show. Read on.
- German travel trade founds association for climate conscious travel: The German Travel Association and Futouris are entering the next phase of the „Climate-conscious travel“ project launched last year. The aim is to show the carbon footprint of air travel. A new association called Klima Link is to drive the technology forward.
Current major topics within the transportation industry in the DACH region
- Lufthansa expects difficult summer season for 2023: The Corona crisis is not yet over for the aviation industry. Lufthansa is flying in profits again but remains cautious. Too steep a climb could lead to renewed chaos, warns the airline’s chief executive Carsten Spohr. Lufthansa expects capacity problems at airports and in the airspace to continue in the coming year. According to current plans, the group is aiming for a flight schedule in 2023 that averages about 85 percent of the volume from the pre-crisis year of 2019. Read on
- First consequences from Eurowings strike: The strikes at Eurowings have had their first consequences: According to the Lufthansa subsidiary, growth plans will be halted with immediate effect. An internal memo sent to employees by the management on Tuesday states that the fleet size of 81 aircraft planned for 2023 will initially be reduced by five.
Destination news
- USA bookings on the rise: The third quarter reflects the picked-up pace of growth, with German guest numbers in the U.S. already back to a good 70 percent of pre-Corona 2019 levels.
- Taiwan: The Far Eastern country has just abolished all corona-related entry regulations – and interest in Taiwan among German vacationers seems to be high. Information is available at a B2B event on November 3 in Frankfurt.
- Madeira Madeira and the neighbouring island of Porto Santo are making a comeback on the travel market. For the year 2022, the Portuguese islands in the Atlantic are recording rising inbound tourism figures. Even the comparison with 2019 is positive.
- New Zealand targets affluent travellers: Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) is happy: arrivals from Germany are on the rise again. In July, this led to a recovery of 27 percent compared to 2019. One also sees a high search interest from Germany – Google search queries have increased significantly since 2019. New Zealanders are trying to boost business with new attractions and luxury hotels. However, the new luxury homes also show which clientele is to be lured to New Zealand in the future. A statement by New Zealand’s Tourism Minister Stuart Nash recently caused a stir, saying that he would rather have more „high-quality tourists“ in his own country instead of those who drive through the country in a camper van and „eat instant noodles for ten dollars a day.
- Balearic Islands: Travel agencies and tour operators could not avoid the Balearic Islands last summer. The tour operators unanimously report single- or double-digit growth figures compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, when, however, Thomas Cook was still the second strongest German provider. Around 613,000 Germans visited the Balearics in August alone – between January and August, more than three million Germans traveled to the archipelago, which is more than one million more in eight months than in the whole of 2021. With these figures, it is no wonder that tour operators are very satisfied with this year’s Balearic business. The mood among hoteliers, on the other hand, is gloomy. The reason for this is the extreme increase in costs, which reduced profitability quite considerably despite higher average prices. A major challenge for hoteliers was also the lack of staff. And this problem will increase next summer because the unions are demanding 15 percent more pay for hotel and restaurant employees on Mallorca. More pay and higher costs will also have an impact on hotel prices.
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