A surge in Madeira bookings, generally improved demand for most destinations and signs of a comeback in demand for Turkey are some of the latest trends on the German outbound travel market, according to fvw.com.
Most top destinations saw stronger bookings in September, according to figures from reservations provider Traveltainment for German package holiday bookings to leading destination airports. This ties in with GfK’s figure of a 2% revenue increase for travel agents last month due to good late sales.
Madeira was the most eye-catching destination in the airport booking figures for September. The Portuguese island saw a 36% increase in bookings last month, which left it in ninth place in the ranking of the ten largest destination airports in September.
There was also strong growth for Palma (+24%), Las Palmas (+16%) and Tenerife South (+17%) but Arrecife saw only a 4% rise and Fuerteventura dropped by 2% compared to 12 months ago.
In contrast, demand for Greece was slower in September than in recent months, with bookings to Heraklion up by just 4% while Rhodes had a 1% fall. Hurghada remained in the dumps with a 21% drop in bookings.
Significantly, bookings to Antalya were only 4% behind last year’s level, suggesting better demand from German holidaymakers. This figure ties in with comments from tour operators and travel agents about improving sales for the Turkish Riviera after a turbulent year with rising late sales for October, when there are half-term autumn holidays in most of Germany.
“We’re very satisfied with late bookings. Bookings have picked up again strongly,” commented Detlev Schroer, sales director for Schauinsland-Reisen. TUI, DER Touristik and Thomas Cook apparently also all had good late sales in recent weeks.
FTI’s last-minute holidays unit 5 vor Flug has seen a “remarkable” surge of 40-50% in daily bookings, according to managing director Ralf Kathagen. Both he and Schroer confirmed good demand for Turkey due to attractive prices as well as for Egypt.
However, market researchers GfK, whose monthly sales survey showed a 7% drop in summer 2016 sales as of end-September, were pessimistic about the overall impact of last month’S improved demand. “The sales growth achieved with last-minute holiday bookings for departures in September and October doesn’t have any great effect,” commented researcher D?rte Nordback.
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