Greece is a clear destination winner this year and demand for Egypt is recovering strongly, German tour operator DER Touristik said in an upbeat overview of current booking trends.
Germans clearly want to travel this year despite all the events of last year which combined to dampen demand, according to the country’s third-largest tour operator. “The events of 2016 have not put a brake on Germans’ desire to travel,” declared Ren? Herzog, CEO Central Europe.
Like in 2016, Germans are continuing to switch from the Eastern to the Western Mediterranean this year, and are booking early to secure their preferred hotels and travel dates. “Holidaymakers have learned,” Herzog explained. “In countries where guests feel safe, such as Spain, Italy and Greece, there were already (capacity) bottlenecks last year. As a result, these destinations are being booked even earlier now.” Moreover, Germans are competing for capacity with other source markets, such as the UK, as well as with domestic holidaymakers, he pointed out.
In terms of individual destinations, demand for Greece holidays is soaring, and DER’s bookings for the country have doubled compared to the same time last year, with heavy demand for Crete, Rhodes and Kos. In contrast to Spain, prices for Greece are stable compared to last year.
In addition, Egypt is seeing a dramatic comeback, although in comparison to weak bookings last year. “Incoming bookings are continually higher than last year,” commented Herzog.
Popular destinations
Spain, Portugal and Italy are all very popular at present while Cyprus and Bulgaria are also seeing good demand. In contrast, Germans are still “holding back” with bookings for Turkey and Tunisia.
However, Herzog remained optimistic about prospects for Turkey, predicting: “We expect demand for Turkey to improve during the year as other regions fill up and also the more attractive the prices are.”
In response to these trends, DER Touristik has increased capacity for popular destinations by contracting additional flight capacity with various carriers including Eurowings, Norwegian and Sundair. Mainstream brands ITS, Jahn Reisen and Travelix have added more than 250 flight connections to Spain, including 159 to Majorca, Greece, Portugal and Italy as well as to Malta and Croatia.
Long-haul destinations are also selling well, the group said. Winners for summer 2017 include Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Dominican Republic and South Africa along with the USA.
“We cannot see any decline (in bookings) after the Trump elections,” Herzog declared. “On the contrary, DER Touristik has strong bookings and we expect a strong summer for North America.” The tour operator has maintained stable prices despite the strong US dollar.
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