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
- Statistics Austria: Holiday travel back to pre-crisis level: After more than two years of pandemic, the number of vacation trips in Austria in the first half of 2022 has returned to pre-crisis levels: vacation trips of one night or more (including visits to relatives and acquaintances) more than doubled compared to the same period last year (up 126.5% to 9.77 million), Statistics Austria reported today (Friday). In the first half of 2019, the number of vacation trips was 9.76 million. Thus, although the travel activity of Austrians in the months of January to March was still below the level before the Corona pandemic – 3.53 million vacation trips in 2022 compared to 4.11 million in 2019 – this then increased significantly in the second quarter. In April to June, the number of vacation trips in this country rose by 10.4% to 6.23 million, which was even higher than in 2019 (5.65 million). Read more
- UNWTO is cautiously optimistic about the future: Europe and the Middle East showed the strongest recovery from January to July 2022, with tourist arrivals reaching 74 percent and 76 percent of 2019 levels, respectively. Europe welcomed nearly three times as many international arrivals as it did in the first seven months of last year (up 190 percent), with results boosted by strong intraregional demand and travel from the United States. This is according to the latest World Tourism Barometer published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The lifting of travel restrictions in a wide range of destinations also contributed to these results, as 44 countries in Europe no longer had Covid-19-related restrictions as of Sept. 19, 2022. On a scale of 0 to 200, the UNWTO panel of tourism experts gave the May-August 2022 period a score of 125, in line with the optimistic expectations the panel had expressed in the May survey for the same four-month period (124 points). The outlook for the rest of the year is cautiously optimistic. Although above-average performance is expected, tourism experts gave the September-December 2022 period a score of 111, down from 125 in the previous four-month period. This shows a downgrade in the confidence level. Nearly half of the experts (47 percent) see a positive outlook for the period September to December 2022, while 24 percent expect no particular change and 28 percent believe things could get worse. Experts also seem confident about 2023, as 65 percent expect tourism performance to be higher than in 2022. Read more
- This is how international tourism has recovered: According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourist arrivals from January to July 2022 have almost tripled (+172%) compared to the same period in 2021. This means that the sector has recovered almost 60% of pre-pandemic levels. The recovery reflects pent-up demand for international travel and the easing or lifting of previous travel restrictions (86 countries had no COVID-19-related restrictions by September 19, 2022). UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said, „Tourism continues to recover steadily, but some geopolitical and economic challenges remain. The sector is bringing back hope and opportunities to people everywhere. Now is also the time to rethink where it is going and the impact it has on people and the planet.“ Read more
- Ifo business climate deteriorates significantly: Sentiment in the German economy deteriorated significantly in light of the Ukraine war and the aftermath of the pandemic. The Ifo business climate fell by 4.3 points in September compared with the previous month to 84.3 points. This is the lowest level since May 2020. Experts had expected a downturn, but only to 87 points. Read more
Current topics within the transportation industry in Germany & Europe
- Cruise passengers book longer and more expensive trips: Spontaneous decision and no worries about the wallet – this is how the current booking behavior of cruise customers could be summarized somewhat exaggeratedly. To this end, the Travel Data & Analytics analysis tool for fvw|TravelTalk made a special evaluation of cruise sales and came to the conclusion: In fact, customers continue to book the winter of 2022/23 at short notice, but spend more money and stay longer on the ship. Specifically, departures for the next six months were booked with an average lead time of 166 days. And: it’s 14 percent less than in the last „normal“ year 2019. But in return, the average length of stay on board increases by five percent to eleven days. And the expenditure for a cruise per person and trip even increases by 16 percent to 1704 euros. Read more
- The Skytrax World Airline Awards were announced: A great honor for the joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines: Sun Express wins the title of „World’s Best Leisure Airline. The success as the world’s best leisure airline was accompanied by the title of „Best Holiday Airline in Turkey,“ which Sun Express received for the third year in a row. In the worldwide leisure airline category, Canada-based Air Transat came in second ahead of TUI Airways and TUIfly. Condor ranked sixth. TUIfly was also named Germany’s most popular vacation airline. Qatar Airways again won the overall ranking in all airline categories. The carrier from the Gulf thus secured the title of world’s best airline for the seventh time in a row. Qatar also won the awards for best business class, best seat in business class and best food in the business class lounge. In second place came Singapore Airlines, which also took the titles for best in-flight entertainment, best economy class, best catering and best seat in premium economy class. The other top ten airlines were Emirates, ANA, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Air France, Korean Air and Swiss. Lufthansa came in 15th place, while Sun Express was ranked 61st among all airlines. Read more
- Ryanair remains below 2019 levels in Germany: Ryanair has put the collapse in passenger numbers in the Corona pandemic behind it. In the current fiscal year (April 2022 to March 2023), Ryanair will carry just over 166 million passengers in Europe, 115 percent of its pre-Corona level (149 million), he said. In the next fiscal year, traffic figures should rise to 185 million passengers and then to 225 million in 2026, Gruber said. In Germany, however, Ryanair has not yet compensated for the pandemic losses: Here, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier expects 14.7 million passengers in the current fiscal year, according to Gruber, about a third less than 2019/20’s 21 million. Read more
- These are the airlines with the most delays: During the summer season, the word flight chaos often came up. On World Tourism Day, the airline passenger compensation provider Airhelp analyzed which airlines in Germany were responsible for the most flight problems since the beginning of the year. According to the ranking, Lufthansa was the airline that flew the most passengers late – or not at all – to their booked destinations. This involved 5.5 million passengers, which corresponded to a percentage share of all Lufthansa passengers of 36 percent. In second place by a wide margin was low-cost carrier Ryanair with about 1.1 million (34 percent) delayed passengers, followed by Turkish Airlines with 840,000 (46 percent), Easyjet with 420,000 (30 percent), Wizz Air with 330. 000 (39 percent), Eurowings with 270,000 (five percent), Air Dolomiti with 250,000 (60 percent), United Airlines with 180,000 (30 percent), British Airways with 178,000 (33 percent) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines with 174,000 (26 percent) affected. Read more
Destination news
- Canada: Canada’s government plans to abolish the current Covid 19 entry restrictions. As early as September 30, the vaccination and testing requirements for entrants are to be eliminated.
- Canary Islands: Nothing went on Gran Canaria and Co: Because of Cyclone Hermine, virtually all flights were canceled on Sunday. Twelve hours and more waited thousands of passengers on Sunday for their departures – in almost all cases in vain. The situation is gradually easing.
- Croatia: Croatia, a popular vacation destination also among German citizens, expects higher tourism revenues this year than in the record year 2019, the last year before the global Corona pandemic. According to forecasts by the Croatian National Bank, tourism revenues in 2022 will be about 11.3 billion euros, Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said in Zagreb. In 2019, these revenues had stood at 10.5 billion euros.
- Hong Kong: After two and a half years, Hong Kong is ending its quarantine requirement on entry. In future, arriving travelers will only have to monitor their health for three days and will not be able to go to restaurants or bars during that time. After a negative test on the fourth day, they will receive a blue code in the Corona app and can move freely. Another test is scheduled for the sixth day. The new rules have been in effect since Monday, September 26, 2022.
- Japan: On October 11, 2022, the country wants to significantly simplify entry again. Apart from the mandatory vaccination – three doses are required – and a test, there will then be no more corona-related entry requirements. Until now, only package tourists were allowed, and visas had to be applied for.
- Samoa: Samoa has removed all its Covid entry rules for international travellers. Prior to the rule change only vaccinated travellers were permitted entry to the Polynesian island country. All arrivals, including children and infants, were required to show evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure or a supervised rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of departure.
- Spain: Tourists are back in Spain. Although not quite the same as in pre-Corona times, the numbers are improving month by month. „The general number of arrivals is about 20% below 2019 figures, says Horacio Díaz del Barco, director of the Spanish Tourist Board. However, it is important to remember that neither Russian nor Chinese tourists have flown to Western Europe this year, he added. In terms of tourist spending, the figures are even more encouraging – only 8.7% less than in 2019, he said.
- Taiwan: In mid-September, Taiwan already relaxed the Covid rules and abolished the visa requirement introduced at Corona. Now the Far Eastern country also wants to lift the quarantine requirement on entry. The new rules are to apply from October 13. Entrants will then only have to isolate and test themselves for seven days. If necessary, they can go outside the door, but then they should wear a mask and keep their distance.
- Thailand: According to current information, all Corona entry rules are to fall with the beginning of October 2022. As quoted by the Bangkok Post newspaper, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said today (Friday) that from October 1, 2022, travelers will not have to present a Corona vaccination certificate or a negative test at the airport.
- Turkey: 29.3 million vacationers came to the country between January and August, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. That’s a 108 percent increase over the same period in 2021, it said, adding that in August alone, the number of foreign visitors rose 52.3 percent over the same month last year, reaching 6.3 million Turkish vacationers. German visitors topped the list in the first eight months with a number of 3.9 million, it said – this group of visitors roughly doubled (up 106 percent) compared to the same period last year.
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