Top Spanish destinations suffered a bookings slump of 20 – 25% last month as many German holidaymakers decided to head for cheaper destinations such as Turkey, Egypt and Greece instead this summer, according to package holiday booking figures for February, fvw.com reports in the following article:
Bookings to Palma fell by 22% in February, following 15% falls in both January and December, as higher prices took their toll on sales, the latest monthly figures from leading reservations provider Traveltainment showed.
In similar fashion, German bookings for the Canary Islands were down heavily last month, again following significant falls in the last few months. Fuerteventura and Las Palmas both dropped by 25%, Tenerife (South) was down by 22% while Arrecife dropped out of the top ten destination airports ranking.
The destination winners were Turkey, Egypt and Greece which are continuing to gain as German holidaymakers switch away from Spain, where package holiday prices are noticeably higher this year.
Bookings of package holidays with Antalya as the destination airport grew by 13% in February, consolidating the high growth rates seen since last November as German consumers regain trust in holidays in Turkey.
Egypt again performed well again last month. Bookings to Hurghada increased by 44% following high increases of 61% in January, 55% in December and 72% in November. Moreover, the smaller Red Sea destination Marsa Alam also scored well, with a 20% increase in bookings year-on-year which was enough to push it into the top ten ranking.
Greece consolidated last year’s strong growth rates with another month of solid bookings for the principal destinations, the Traveltainment figures showed. Demand for Crete remained good, generating a 5% rise in bookings to Heraklion, the island’s main airport. Rhodes had a 2% increase for the second month running and Kos was up by 6% after double-digit increases in recent months.
The Traveltainment numbers cover package holiday and last-minute bookings through its market-leading travel agency and OTA reservation systems.
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RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Source: fvw.com
